Summary:
Kanpur, Nov 25 (PTI) Debutant Shreyas Iyer was guts, aggression and flair rolled into one during an unbeaten knock of 75, which was nothing short of a baptism by fire, as India ended on 258 for four on the first day of the opening Test against New Zealand here on Thursday.
On a pitch that had variable bounce and didn"t offer enough pace off it, Iyer put his best foot forward while facing 136 balls, hitting seven boundaries and two sixes on his very first day in office in the longest format.
Coming in at 106 for 3 at the fall of Cheteshwar Pujara"s (26 off 88 balls) wicket, the debutant, in another half an hour, found his skipper Ajinkya Rahane"s (33 off 65 balls) promising knock come to a halt as Kyle Jamieson (15.2-6-47-3) and Tim Southee (16.4-3-43-1) rocked the middle-order in inspiring post-lunch spells.
But at 144 for 4, Iyer took charge with senior all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja (50 batting, 100 balls) for company as they resurrected the innings, at the same time batting with a lot of intent to keep the scoreboard ticking.
Jadeja scored his 17th Test fifty and did his trademark sword celebrations much to the delight of the crowd.
One doesn"t know if Sunil Gavaskar, while presenting the India Cap to Iyer, mentioned about a very special player to him.