Indian batter Shreyas Iyer, who made his Test debut during the first Test of the two-match series against New Zealand in Kanpur, stood tall in the middle as he reached the three-figure mark with a gentle dab towards the point region. He scored his century off 156 balls and soaked the appreciation by his teammates and the fans at the stadium.

He achieved the feat off the bowling of Kyle Jamieson in the 92nd over of India’s first innings. Later in the over, he also carved Kyle Jamieson for a boundary behind the point region.

En route to his century, Shreyas Iyer became the 16th Indian player to score a century on Test debut, 3rd Indian player to hit a Test century on debut against the Black Caps.

His century is also the joint fourth-fastest where balls-faced details are available and also the joint fourth fastest for India where balls-faced details were available.

Earlier in the day, the hosts started the second day on 258/4 with Iyer and Ravindra Jadeja steadying the ship after early jolts. While the right-handed batsman resumed his innings on 75, he was ably supported by Jadeja who scored a gritty Test half-century.

Day 1 of the first Test

In what was nothing short of baptism by fire, debutant Iyer played a calculated innings as he scored runs easily and hit occasional boundaries.

On a pitch that had variable bounce and didn’t offer enough pace off it, Iyer put his best foot forward while facing 136 balls, hitting seven boundaries and two sixes on his very first day in office in the longest format.

Coming in at 106/3 at the fall of Cheteshwar Pujara‘s (26 off 88 balls) wicket, the debutant, in another half an hour, found his skipper Ajinkya Rahane’s (33 off 65 balls) promising knock come to a halt as Kyle Jamieson (15.2-6-47-3) and Tim Southee (16.4-3-43-1) rocked the middle-order in inspiring post-lunch spells.

But at 144/4, Iyer took charge with senior all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja (50 batting, 100 balls) for a company as they resurrected the innings, at the same time batting with a lot of intent to keep the scoreboard ticking.

Jadeja scored his 17th Test fifty and did his trademark sword celebrations much to the delight of the crowd.