Shreyas Iyer's special connection with Kanpur began much before his debut ton in 1st India vs New Zealand Test

Shreyas Iyer has revealed that the Green Park Stadium in Kanpur holds a very special place in his heart since he has enjoyed lot of luck and good results at the venue.

Shreyas made a memorable Test debut against New Zealand in the ongoing first Test in Kanpur. Resuming his innings on 75, he went on to complete his century on Day 2. By crossing three figures, he became the 16th Indian batter to notch up a hundred on Test debut.

In a chat with his Mumbai teammate Suryakumar Yadav on bcci.tv, the 26-year-old admitted that Kanpur has been a really lucky venue for him. He said:

“Kanpur has been really lucky for me. My debut Ranji season was under Suryakumar’s captainship. Like to thank him for backing me after my first four innings. I thought I would be out of the team. We were in the same situation when we came to Kanpur. We were 20-30 for 5 and, after that, I had a 150-run partnership with tailenders and got the team to a good position. Even in the IPL, I scored 93 over here. One of the luckiest grounds I have ever played on.”

Shreyas made his Ranji Trophy debut in the 2014/15 domestic season. In a group match against Uttar Pradesh in Kanpur in December 2014, Mumbai had crumbled to 57 for 6 in response to UP’s first-innings total of 206. Shreyas, coming in at No. 7, then played a brilliant knock of 75 in 78 balls while Shardul Thakur, batting at No. 9, hammered 87.

Mumbai recovered to post 270 and went on to win the match by eight wickets. Apart from his half-century, Thakur also claimed nine wickets in the game. Skipper Suryakumar made an unbeaten 47 off 33 in the second innings as Mumbai chased down a target of 98 in 15.4 overs.

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“Never thought I would be getting the cap from Sunil sir” - Shreyas Iyer

Shreyas admitted he was pleasantly surprised to receive his Test cap from Sunil Gavaskar. He was under the impression that coach Rahul Dravid would give it to him.

Describing the feeling of receiving his Test cap and then scoring a hundred as a fairy tale, the middle-order batter added:

“I never thought that I would be getting the cap from Sunil sir. I obviously thought that Rahul sir would give it to me. But, both are legends of the game and if either of them had given me the cap, I would have been happy. It’s a great feeling and the way everything panned out, I was really happy but not satisfied with the way I got out.”

Shreyas was dismissed for 105 off 171 balls on Day 2 of the Kanpur Test. After India’s innings folded up for 345, New Zealand made a resolute start to their batting stint. Openers Will Young (75*) and Tom Latham (50*) batted out 57 overs as the Kiwis ended the day on 129 for no loss.