New Delhi: Debutant Shreyas Iyer’s hard-fought 75 not out, his 113-run solid stand with all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja (50 not out) put India on top at Stump’s on the opening Day of Ind v NZ 1st Test at Kanpur’s Green Park Stadium on Thursday. Iyer yet again proved why he is a great asset to the national team as he scored a heroic fifty to help India revive after a major collapse.
Interestingly, Shreyas Iyer father Santosh hasn’t changed his WhatsApp DP in the past four years, PTI news agency reported. hreyas Iyer father Santosh WhatsApp DP shows with his talented son holding the 2017 Border Gavaskar trophy in his hand. The reason is that Mr. Santosh always wanted to see his son play white-ball cricket for India. His dream finally came true on Thursday when Shreyas made his Test debut against New Zealand.
“Yes, this DP (of Shreyas holding the Border Gavaskar trophy) has always been close to my heart because when he was playing against Australia he was on standby in place of Virat Kohli in Dharamshala,” said Santosh at PTI.
“So this time after I won the game, they (teammates) presented him (Shryas) with the trophy, just to hold it, so this moment was very prestigious for me.” Shreyas, who is from the Worli area of Mumbai, showed a lot of poise and class during his time in the middle as India finished the day in 258 for four.
“Shryas holding the trophy (BG) and I literally wanted him to play for India at that point. And I was thinking about those lines like when will he get the opportunity to really be in the team and play in the test match.
“So when Ajinkya Rahane said that Shreyas was going to play, it was the happiest time of my life, more than being selected for any other (format) IPL or someday it was very prestigious for me ( like) it’s a real form of cricket.
“Sometimes when I talked to him I told him you should play a test and he (had) said it would happen very soon and it happened and I was on top of the world,” Santosh said.
Shreyas received his cap from the legendary Sunil Gavaskar and his father called the moment proud.
“Sunil Gavaskar is one of my favorite cricketers and it was absolutely a proud moment. It’s a great moment. I have no words to express (the joy),” concluded Iyer senior.
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