India’s stand-in captain Ajinkya Rahane has confirmed that Shreyas Iyer will make his Test debut in Kanpur against New Zealand. Iyer will become the 303rd Test cricketer for the Indian team. The Mumbai batter will get a chance to make his maiden Test appearance after KL Rahul was ruled out due to muscle strain in his left thigh.

India has decided to rest Virat Kohli (only for the first Test match), Rohit Sharma, Rishabh Pant, Jasprit Bumrah, and Mohammad Shami. Furthermore, the national selector didn’t pick Hanuma Vihari and he was sent to South Africa for the ongoing India A tour.

Suryakumar Yadav had replaced the injured KL Rahul in the Test squad but he may have to wait for his opportunity.

Meanwhile, Iyer has been a consistent performer in first-class cricket while playing for Mumbai. The right-hander has amassed 4592 runs in 54 first-class matches at an impressive average of 52.18 and scores his runs at a fine strike rate of 81.54. Thus, he deserves his opportunity and the 26-year old will look to make a solid start to his Test career.

As KL Rahul is going to miss out due to injury, Mayank Agarwal and Shubman Gill are expected to open the innings for the Indian team.

Rahane asserted the fact that it will be imperative for the batters to tackle the spin conditions in India.

“When you play on spin friendly wickets it’s a challenge even for Indian batsmen so ya we will take it as a challenge and try to win every match we play,” said the veteran cricketer while addressing the media.

There is no doubt that India will begin the match as favorites despite not having their main players in the squad. Ajinkya Rahane will look to lead from the front and get the best out of his team.

The first Test match will be played from Thursday.