Shreyas Iyer’s father Santosh Iyer has a unique WhatsApp Display Picture- his son donning the whites and holding the 2017 Border Gavaskar Trophy. The reason is that he always wanted to see his son play the traditional format of the game, and when he eventually did for the first time on Thursday, Shreyas Iyer father’s joy knew no bounds.
The 26-year-old made his Test debut memorable with an unbeaten half-century on the first day of the 1st Test between India and New Zealand to rescue India from a precarious position on the first day of the first match against New Zealand at the Green Park in Kanpur.
Shreyas Iyer Scores Ton On Test Debut; Father Reasons Having Display Picture Of Him Holding Border Gavaskar Trophy In 2017
On the next day, Shreyas Iyer became the 16th Indian batter to score a century on Test debut, when he got to the three-figure mark against New Zealand in the first Test match at Kanpur. Shreyas Iyer scored 105 before being dismissed by Tim Southee. Shreyas Iyer scored 105 runs off 171 balls after smashing 2 sixes and 13 boundaries and was dismissed by Tim Southee.
Among those to score a century on Test debut for India are the likes of Mohammad Azharuddin, Sourav Ganguly, Virender Sehwag, Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, and Prithvi Shaw. Before Shreyas Iyer, Prithvi Shaw was the last India batter to register a three-digit score in 2018, scoring 134 against West Indies.
“Yeah, this DP (of Shreyas holding Border Gavaskar Trophy) was always close to my heart because when he was playing against Australia, he was a stand-by in place of Virat Kohli, in Dharamshala,” Santosh said hours after his son dominated a strong Kiwi attack.
“So that time after winning the match, they (team-mates) handed over the trophy to him (Shreyas), just to hold it, so that moment was very prestigious for me.” Shreyas, who comes from Mumbai’s Worli area, showed a lot of composure and class during his stay in the middle as India ended the first day on 258 for four.
Santhosh Iyer’s WhatsApp display picture shows Shreyas Iyer catching the trophy after India beat Australia 2-1 in a tightly contested Test series in the year 2017 in Dharamshala. Shreyas Iyer has featured in 22 ODIs and 32 T20Is and averaged 42.78 and 27.61 in the two formats respectively before making his Test debut, 4 years after his limited-overs debut in 2017.
“So, when Ajinkya Rahane declared that Shreyas is going to play, that was the happiest moment in my life, more than getting selected for any other (format) IPL or one-day, this was very prestigious for me (as) this is a real form of cricket. Sometimes when I spoke to him, I told him you should play a Test and he (had) said it will happen very soon and it happened and I was on top of the world,” said Santosh.
A scintillating debut ton from Shreyas Iyer (105) was followed by a fifer from Tim Southee (5/69) as India got bundled out for 345 in the first innings against New Zealand after Lunch on Day 2 of the Kanpur Test.
Shreyas Iyer Was Handed His Test Cap By Sunil Gavaskar And His Father Termed The Moment As A Proud One
Santosh Iyer recalled that Shreyas Iyer used to go for his matches and his son was an “aggressive” batter. The elegant right-handed batter, who played for the prestigious Shivaji Park Gymkhana, was handed his cap by the legendary Sunil Gavaskar and his father termed the moment as a proud one.
“Sunil Gavaskar is one of my favourite cricketers and it was absolutely a proud moment. It is a great moment. I don’t have words to express (the joy),” Iyer senior signed off.
Shreyas Iyer was a little nervous at the start, played some streaky shots but stayed on before opening up to score his maiden Test fifty on the first day before reaching his ton on the 2nd day.