"Star of the day" - Twitter toasts Shreyas Iyer as he hits half-century on Test debut
Shreyas Iyer was impressive in his Test debut as he hit a half-century on Day 1 of the first Test between India and New Zealand. Iyer was unbeaten on 75 off 136 deliveries at stumps in Kanpur as India finished the day with the scorecard reading 258/4.
Iyer walked in to bat with India at 106/3 following Cheteshwar Pujara's dismissal by Tim Southee. He then hit seven boundaries and two sixes as he looked solid against pacers and aggressive against the spinners.
Iyer put on a 39-run stand with Ajinkya Rahane before the stand-in captain fell for 35. Following Rahane's dismissal, Iyer got together with Ravindra Jadeja to stabilize the Indian innings.
Jadeja finished the day unbeaten on 50 off 100. Iyer and Jadeja have put on 113 runs for the fifth wicket and looked solid in their stay, having also seen off the first four overs with the new ball.
Earlier, Shubman Gill gave India a good start with his fourth Test half-century before he fell to Kyle Jamieson, who took three wickets on Day 1. Gill scored 52 off 93 balls with five boundaries and one six.
Iyer was picked in the playing XI as Virat Kohli was rested for the first Test and KL Rahul was ruled out with injury. The 27-year-old has a good first-class record with a strike rate of over 80.
Rahane played at No.4 in Kohli's absence, with Iyer coming in at No.5.
Kyle Jamieson was New Zealand's best bowler with figures of 3/47. Tim Southee took the only other wicket for New Zealand.
Spinners Ajaz Patel, Will Somerville and Rachin Ravindra went wicketless despite toiling hard.
India vs New Zealand, 1st Test: Twitter in praise of Shreyas Iyer, Ravindra Jadeja
Twitter was effusive in praising Shreyas Iyer and Ravindra Jadeja for their brilliant partnership that kept the New Zealand bowlers at bay.
Iyer earned praise for playing as well as he did in his first Test innings, while Jadeja was lauded for yet another crucial knock to get India out of a tricky situation.
Here are the best reactions on Twitter:
Shreyas Iyer making it a memorable debut with a spankingly good half century — responsible as well as replete with fine strokes to pull India out of crisis
Shreyas and Jadeja have saved India the blushes with fine partnership. NZ were steady but not threatening except when Jamieson had the ball. Main spinner Aijaz Patel failed to take wickets or keep runs down which was setback for Williamson.
India at 258/4 on Day 1 stumps. Shreyas Iyer has been the star of the day for India for his exceptional unbeaten 75. Shubman Gill and Ravindra Jadeja scored fifties as well. Kyle Jamieson the pick of the bowler for Kiwis with 3 wickets.
Dream debut for Shreyas Iyer, hope he scores a hundred tomorrow.
Ravindra Jadeja with an excellent fifty in 99 balls. His batting has been a massive plus point, a different batsman since IPL 2020. Really great to see him contributing with the bat.
Maiden Test fifty on debut by Shreyas Iyer in 94 balls. What a wonderful innings by Iyer, he's been prolific in First Class cricket and now continues his form into Tests.
Yet again @imjadeja proves how much he has evolved as a Test batter. Scored crucial runs yet again when the team was under pressure.
Stumps! Excellent come back from India led by Shreyas and Jadeja. More to be done, but today is the day for Shreyas to soak in the good time out in the middle before trying to get India a big score tomorrow. Kyle was and will remain key for NZ.
#INDvNZ
Ravindra Jadeja is an invaluable Test cricketer.
#INDvNZ