IND vs NZ | Shreyas Iyer is going to make his Test debut, confirms Ajinkya Rahane
India’s stand-in skipper Ajinkya Rahane has confirmed that Shreyas Iyer will make his Test debut against New Zealand in Kanpur on Thursday. Iyer will be India’s 303rd player to make the Test debut, and has so far featured in 21 ODIs and 29 T20Is for the national side since his debut in 2017.
TEam India stand-in captain, Ajinkya Rahane on Wednesday confirmed that Shreays Iyer will make his Test debut on Thursday against New Zealand in Kanpur. The World Test Championship 2021 runners-up are missing the services of their regular skipper, Virat Kohli (for the first Test), Rohit Sharma and Rishabh Pant, Mohammad Shami, and Jasprit Bumrah (for the entire series). India have named Suryakumar Yadav as replacement for KL Rahul, who was ruled out of the two-match Test series due to muscle strain in the thigh.
Iyer averages 52.18 in four-day cricket. In the two unofficial Tests in Vijayawada against New Zealand in 2017, he scored 108 and 82. Meanwhile, Rahane, in the pre-match presser said losing Rahul is a big blow to the team.
Speaking to the media on the eve of the opening game, Rahane said: "Shreyas Iyer is going to make his debut."
Reflecting on KL Rahul's absence in the Test squad, Rahane said the team have good talents who can open the innings for India.
"It is a big blow obviously. He did really well in England, he was in good form, obviously we will miss him. But we have guys who can do that job, guys who have done well for us in the past. So not too worried about the opening slot," Rahane said.
The stand-in skipper added that the team will wait till Thursday morning to assess the ideal combination.
"We are not too sure of the combination. But in India you generally get spin-friendly wickets, the ball generally keeps slightly low and slow. We expect that but not too sure how the wicket will play. We will have to wait till tomorrow and assess from there.
"Right now we are into the ICC Test championship. You have to make the most of the home advantage. In India we all know we are backing our bowlers to take 20 wickets. We are going to play on spin-friendly wickets. Batsmen will have to apply themselves. If they get set, they will have to convert it. That is the challenge as a batsman. You have to adapt to the situations and conditions. And then once you are set, try and get a big one. Yeah in future we are going to play on wickets that are spin-friendly," the stand-in skipper added.
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