India vs New Zealand, 1st Test: New Zealand openers in brave fightback after Shreyas Iyer’s debut hundred in Kanpur

New Zealand openers Will Young and Tom Latham led a spirited New Zealand fightback after India were bowled out for 345 in their first innings on the second day of the first Test in Kanpur. Shreyas Iyer highlighted the Indian innings with his debut hundred, a classy 105 but Tim Southee hastened the closure of India’s innings with a superb spell which earned him a well-deserved five-wicket haul.

New Zealand were 129 for no loss at stumps, trailing India by 216 runs. Will Young was included in the XI only because Devon Conway was out injured and much like Shreyas Iyer, Young made the most of his opportunities to signal New Zealand’s inent. Batting was much easier on the second afternoon and there was little purchase for India’s two pacers and three spinners but both Latham and Young were masterful in their defence against the slower bowlers.

R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel toiled away with their combined skillset but their search for wickets continued deep in the final session. There was suddenly some variable bounce with the odd ball turning sharply towards the close of play but by then, the New Zealand openers had entrenched themselves.

Fortunes swing very quickly in Test matches in India but New Zealand will be thrilled with where they find themselves after two days of gruelling battle. India were in trouble on the first day before Shreyas Iyer and Ravindra Jadeja rescued the hosts and then built a platform for a competitive first innings total.

New Zealand still have Kane Williamson and Ross Taylor to bat after this massive opening partnership. Ashwin, Jadeja and Axar would want to maximise any help they get from the surface on the third day and unless they can do that, New Zealand will look to take firmer control of the Tets after losing the toss on Thursday.

The Test match was nicely poised on the second morning but the focus was on Shreyas Iyer who had the chance to become the 16th Indian batter to score a hundred on Test debut. He had batted beautifully on the opening day for an unbroken 113-run partnership with Ravindra Jadeja. On Day 2, the duo could add only 8 more runs to the overnight stand before Jadeja was removed by Tim Southee for 50.

However, Shreyas Iyer, much like the rest of his innings, remained undeterred and raced away to 96 from 88 with two crisp shots off Kyle Jamieson, New Zealand’s best bowler up until that point. It was off Jamieson again that Shreyas Iyer ran hard for two to bring up a hundred a season batter would have been proud of.

Shreyas Iyer had walked in to bat at a tentative point for India. He took his time but once set, Iyer took on the New Zealand spinners and with Ravindra Jadeja, put India on course for their eventual 345 in the first innings. It was an innings of courage and confidence from a man who would not have been sure of a spot in the playing XI a few days before the Test. And that kind of commitment brought just rewards to Shreyas Iyer, who can now make a strong claim to stay on in the side for the Mumbai Test even after Virat Kohli returns.

Mayank Agarwal will retain his place alongside Shubman Gill in the absence of KL Rahul who was sidelined with an injury shortly before the opening Test. But coach Rahul Dravid alongside Virat Kohli will need to take their first bold call together: who do you drop for the 2nd Test given Shreyas Iyer’s debut hundred and given the fact that neither Cheteshwar Pujara nor Ajinkya Rahane did their chances any good with their scores in the first innings.

In 16 Test matches since the start of 2000, Pujara has scored only 7 fifties while Rahane, in the same period, managed 1 hundred and two fifties. And now, how do you drop a batter who scored a hundred on Test debut under difficult conditions?

However, there is still plenty of cricket left in this Test match but some of the decisions over the course of the next week could be really interesting to watch out for.