Shreyas Iyer, who made his Test debut on Thursday, hit his maiden Test half-century to rescue India from a precarious position on the first day of the first Test match against New Zealand at the Green Park in Kanpur. Iyer, who walked in at No.5 position, completed his half-century in 94 balls with the help of six fours.
Iyer, 26, made his ODI and T20I debut in 2017 but, had to wait a bit longer for his opportunity in the longest format of the game. In 92 first-class innings, Iyer has scored 4592 runs at an average of 52.18 with 12 centuries and 23 half-centuries in it. He is the only current player with more than 4000 runs under his belt with an average above fifty and strike-rate above 80 in first-class cricket. He got the opportunity in the first Test as India captain Virat Kohli opt-out of the first Test against Kiwis.
After opting to bat first, India got off to a poor start as Mayank Agarwal was sent back to the dugout on 13. Veteran batter Cheteshwar Pujara and stand-in captain Ajinkya Rahane also failed to get going as Tim Southee removed Pujara while Rahane was dismissed by Kyle Jamieson. Shubman Gill was the only top-order Indian batsman who could trouble New Zealand pacers as the opener went on to score a fifty. However, Jamieson removed Gill soon after the Lunch break to peg back India.
After the wicket of Pujara, Iyer stitched a 39-run partnership with captain Rahane to take India's score past 145. The fall of Rahane saw Jamieson pick his third wicket with New Zealand tightening screws. However, Iyer and Ravindra Jadeja took the responsibility on themselves to rescue the side.
