Shreyas Iyer announced his arrival on the big stage with a hardworking fifty on the first day of the first Test against New Zealand in Kanpur. He walked out bat in the middle when Cheteshwar Pujara was edged behind by Tim Southee and he stitched valuable partnerships with Ajinkya Rahane and Ravindra Jadeja.
He got off the mark on the eight ball with a lofted shot that has been his trademark in the shortest formats of the game but quickly settled his nerves to play some crips shots off the spinners. He was not afraid to take on the bowing and was particularly severe against the left-arm spin of Rachin Ravindra and Ajaz Patel.
His unbeaten partnership so far with Jadeja has taken India beyond the 200-run mark in the first innings of the first Test.
He was introduced to the Test squad as India were without their skipper Virat Kohli for the first Test and the injury to KL Rahul and shifting of Shubman Gill to the top of the order opened the door for him.