Debutant Iyer shows guts, aggression & flair

By Mohammed Rumman Khan | NT

Rahul Dravid brings back old-world charm as Sunil Gavaskar presented the Test cap to debutant Shreyas Iyer, who’s in sight of a century on debut, while Jadeja is not out on 50, and their partnership for the fifth wicket stood at 113. India were 258 for four at stumps on the opening day of the first Test against New Zealand in Kanpur on Thursday.

The 113-run unbroken partnership between Jadeja and Iyermight prove to be the winning one in the final analysis. On a pitch that had variable bounce and didn’t offer enough pace off it, batters had to give themselves some time in the wicket.

Electing to bat, Gill and Cheteshwar Pujara shared 61 runs after the fall of Mayank Agarwal (13) early, who wasted a God-given opportunity when he nicked one from Jamieson that moved a shade from length to be caught by Blundell.

Coming in at 106 for 3 at the fall of Cheteshwar Pujara’s wicket, the debutant, in another half an hour, found his skipper Ajinkya Rahane’s promising knock come to a halt as Kyle Jamieson and Tim Southee rocked the middle-order in inspiring post-lunch spells.

Rahane was done in by low bounce when he was expecting the ball from a near 7 feet tall Jamieson to rear up. With 12 Tests without a big score (India might not bat twice), Rahane’s record is not reading too well for a stand-in skipper.

Similarly, Pujara being stopped from scoring by spinners, whom younger players like Gill and Iyer played freely, is an indicator that he either has to reinvent himself or there is trouble in waiting.Opener Gill w a s given a reprieve on 6 when leftarm spinner Ajaz Patel opted not to review an LBW shout which would have been out, then went on to bring up his half-century before lunch. India lost three wickets in the afternoon session. Kyle Jamieson (3/47) troubled the Indian batters, scalping three wickets, while his pace colleague Tim Southee (1/43) took one wicket.

The Black Caps went in with a threepronged spin attack consisting of left-armer Ajaz Patel, off-spinner Will Somerville and left-armer Rachin Ravindra, usually an opening batsman, but deployed here in an all-rounder role.

Ravindra was the youngest Black Caps test debutant since leg-spinner Ish Sodhi in Bangladesh in 2013 and was hit out of the attack by Shreyas as India piled on the runs in the final session. Southee’s fitness is sure to be monitored closely overnight, while Jamieson is going to have to be at his best on the second morning if the Black Caps are going to pull themselves back into this contest, as they seek their first win in India since 1988.