As far as dream Test debuts go, Shreyas Iyer could not have written the script better for himself on Thursday. After receiving his first Test cap from legendary Indian cricketer Sunil Gavaskar, Iyer scored a half-century on the first day of the 1st Test match against New Zealand in Kanpur.
Although it needed Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli taking a rest along with an injury to KL Rahul for Iyer to earn his debut, no one could argue it was not deserved with an impressive First-class record of 4592 runs in 92 innings at an average of 52.18.
Shreyas’s father Santosh Iyer could not hide his excitement on seeing his son make his debut in the longest format on the game for India. In an interview with Mid-day, he said, “Test cricket is the real cricket. I always wanted him to play Tests. Today, that dream will come true. My wife and I are absolutely delighted.”
Santosh went on to narrate a story about him keeping a Whatsapp DP of Shreyas holding the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in 2017 to remind him to continuously work towards playing Test cricket.
“I have had this DP since then. I have never changed it because I always wanted to remind him that this [playing Test cricket] should be his ultimate goal. I am thrilled it’s finally happening,” said Santosh.
The photo was taken in Dharamshala during Australia’s tour of India in 2017 when India won a four-match home series by a narrow margin of 2-1. Iyer was called into the squad for the fourth Test after Virat Kohli suffered an injury but he did not feature in the playing XI.
Although Iyer has not played for India in whites before today, he has been a regular member of the Indian limited-overs teams for the last few years. The ex-Delhi Capitals skipper has featured in 22 ODIs and 32 T20Is for the Men in Blue.
