IND vs NZ | Rahul Dravid gives us confidence, his work ethic and player management skills are amazing, says Shreyas Iyer

12/06/2021

Shreyas Iyer lauded head coach Rahul Dravid for giving players confidence, and hailed his work ethics and player management skills after India defeated New Zealand by 372 runs in the second Test in Mumbai. Iyer had a fine start to his Test career, with scores of 105 and 65 on his debut in Kanpur.

India won the second Test of the two-match series against New Zealand by a huge margin of 372 runs in Mumbai to take the series 1-0. One of the highlights of the series was Shreyas Iyer's fine start to his Test career, as the youngster scored a hundred and followed it up with a fifty in Kanpur, becoming the first Indian cricketer to do so on his Test debut.

Iyer scored 202 runs in four innings at an average of 50.50 to finish the second highest run-scorer in the series. It also marked a winning start to Rahul Dravid's tenure as India head coach, with the team having earlier won the T20I series 3-0.

India's middle-order is already stacked with the experienced Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane and Cheteshwar Pujara, and Iyer has put a strong case for himself after his impressive showing. The Mumbai batsman said that he's not worried of team selection as of now, and lauded Dravid for giving players confidence.

“I'm not thinking of cementing a place,” Iyer said after India’s win. “We've got so much competition and players in good form, I just want to do well when I get an opportunity,” he added.

“Dravid gives you confidence, we started off at India A. We've gelled really well, his work ethic and player management skills are amazing. It's great to chat with him even outside the field.”

Jayant Yadav, who played his first Test since 2017, returned 4/49 in New Zealand's second innings to skittle them out for 167. When he last played at the Wankhede, against England in 2016, he'd registered his only Test hundred in India's innings and 36-run win.

The all-rounder reflected on his performance, and reminisced the one from five years ago.

“In the morning, the moisture in the wicket helped,” Jayant said. “You could see the difference between last evening and this morning, was getting much more bite. Was just important to get the ball in the right areas.”

“Wankhede and Mumbai is special, the last Test here, I got a hundred. Missed out on a five-for here, but helped the team's cause. It's useful to feed off Ashwin's mind, he thinks for the team in a different way, should always pick on thinking brains and add to your game. It's great learning for me.”

India's next assignment will be the three-match Test series in South Africa, beginning December 26.