Kanpur: From hospital bed to Test debut, it’s been a rollercoaster ride for Shreyas Iyer. Cricketers getting injured are not a new thing, but recovering from injury and getting a Test cap is a good achievement for anyone.
Iyer posted a video on Instagram on Tuesday, in which he shared visuals of his treatment. And then he showed pictures of a photoshoot in Test jersey.
After dislocating his shoulder in an ODI against England in Pune on March 23, Iyer had to stay away from the field for a long time. He had to undergo surgery in the UK and was also ruled out of appearing for Lancashire in the Royal London Cup.
He did not play in the first part of IPL held in India in early 2021. From him, Rishabh Pant took over the command of Delhi Capitals.
Iyer went for the rehabilitation and came back for the second part of the IPL. After the IPL, Shreyas was picked for the Team India T20I squad but could not become a part of the T20 World Cup team.
Iyer became India’s 303rd Test cricketer as he got the Test cap from the legendary Sunil Gavaskar before the start of the first Test against New Zealand at Green Park Stadium in Kanpur on Wednesday.
A Test cap that has come after 4592 first-class runs in 54 matches at an average of 52.18. Iyer made his ODI debut back in 2017, played 54 limited-overs matches. He scored 1393 runs at an average of 42.7 in ODIs and 27.6 in T20Is. Seeing his ability to score runs freely, it was believed that sooner or later he will be included in the Test squad.
Iyer paid back for the faith shown him as he and recalled opener Shubman Gill struck half-centuries to help India overcome Kyle Jamieson’s terrific display of seam bowling and post 258-4 at close on the opening day of first Test on Thursday.
If Gill’s 52 helped India overcome the early loss of opener Mayank Agarwal, Iyer’s unbeaten 75 prevented New Zealand from taking control of the contest after Jamieson had prised out three top-order wickets on the opening day.
Ravindra Jadeja also helped himself to an unbeaten 50 having raised 113 runs with Iyer for the burgeoning fifth-wicket stand.
The tryst with Kanpur is not new for Iyer. In 2019, he saved the Mumbai Ranji team with his gritty knock of 75 against the formidable attack of Pravin Kumar, Ankit Rajpoot, and Piyush Chawal. Now he got his Test cap at the same venue where he announced his arrival for the red-ball cricket.
In fact, the Test cap looked in his grasp but eluded him on a number of occasions. In March 2017, he was called up as Virat Kohli’s replacement for the fourth and final Test against Australia in Dharamsala but missed the Test cap by a whisker.
Now after four years, he finally got the moment, a moment that will take some time to sink.
Green Park Stadium’s dry, brown pitch had prompted both sides to pack three spinners but it was Jamieson who impressed the most with the ball on a slow track.
“Hopefully the new ball swings a bit in the morning and we can take a few wickets,” Jamieson (3-47) told the broadcasters after the day’s play.
“India are probably a fraction ahead, but we did well to have them four down.”
