It’s turned out to be a fairytale story for one certain Mumbaikar Shreyas Iyer as he joined an illustrious club of players scoring a hundred on debut Test innings. By scoring a hundred on the Day 2 of Kanpur Test, he became the 16th Indian player to reach the triple-figure mark on debut and 10th time on Indian soil. The 26-year-old who represents Mumbai at the domestic level was speaking about how Sunil Gavaskar, who also hails from Mumbai, helped him gather motivation after he made his debut for the side. Iyer also revealed that he could not get good sleep after Day 1's play.
”I was really happy with the way everything went right from day one, couldn't get good sleep last night. Especially when you are batting overnight, I thought I batted really well yesterday but had to still focus again today. He (Sunil Gavaskar) motivated me a lot while giving me the cap but the one thing he told me that stayed in my mind is, 'don't look too far ahead and just enjoy yourself'. I wasn't able to sleep well at all, got up early at five today morning but when you make a century, it's a wonderful feeling,” the 26-year-old told broadcasters after Day 2's play.
Iyer who was presented the debut cap by the legendary Gavaskar has become the 303rd player to represent India in Test match cricket. Interestingly, after Rohit Sharma and Prithvi Shaw he has become the third consecutive Mumbai-based player to score a hundred on debut for the national side.
The right-handed batter was eventually dismissed by Tim Southee after he scored 105. The Indian tail did not wag as the hosts were bundled out for 345. At the end of Day 2, New Zealand were in the driver's seat with 129/0. Iyer might have some more work to do in the second innings if India don't dismiss Kiwi batters early on Day 3.
