Shreyas Iyer became the 16th Indian batter to score a century on his Test debut on Friday. Sunil Gavaskar presented Iyer with his first Test cap on the first day of the Kanpur Test when he scored 75 not out.

After knocking off 25 runs early in the morning on Day 2, the 26-year-old batter joined an elite group of Indian batters. While Iyer made his India debut in 2017 and scored 519 runs in IPL 2020 last year, he has struggled to secure a place in the Playing XI. Earlier this season he suffered an injury setback when he dislocated his shoulder. In the IPL, the batter returned to action after months of rehab, scoring 175 runs in eight matches. In 2018, Shaw was the last Indian batter to record a three-digit score, scoring 134 against West Indies. Kyle Jamieson gave Iyer a four off a lovely flick off his pads. Even though Ravindra Jadeja was dismissed for his overnight score of 50, Iyer carried on, hitting a sublime cover drive to reach the 90s and hitting another four off the next ball to reach 96. 

During the three T20Is against New Zealand, Iyer was named as a reserve in India’s T20 World Cup squad. His upward trajectory continued with his Test debut before he added a stupendous century to the occasion!