IND vs NZ 2021: Hope Dravid, Virat do not ignore Shreyas Iyer’s performance – VVS Laxman

Former Indian batter VVS Laxman is hopeful that head coach Rahul Dravid and Virat Kohli do not ignore Shreyas Iyer’s performance.

Iyer made a fantastic start to his Test career as he scored a fine knock of 105 runs in his debut innings and became the 16th Indian player to score a hundred on his Test debut.

India was 145-4 in the first innings at one stage and Iyer’s knock was vital in taking the team’s score to 345 runs. Subsequently, India was behind the eighth-ball as they were 51-5 in the second innings and then Iyer scored a fine knock of 65 runs to get his team back in the contest. The right-hander thus became the first Indian player to score a century and a fifty in his maiden Test match.

Furthermore, Iyer was awarded the Player of the Match award for scoring 170 runs in the match. On the other hand, Ajinkya Rahane and Cheteshwar Pujara haven’t been in the best of forms and it would make more sense if one of these veteran batters is dropped for the second Test.

However, Laxman reckons that Indian opener Mayank Agarwal gave an underwhelming performance and he could be dropped. Laxman feels Cheteshwar Pujara could open the innings for the Indian team while Ajinkya Rahane can bat at one down.

“Shreyas Iyer batted in both innings and got a hundred in his first Test series and then followed it up with a fantastic half-century. Both these innings, mind you, have come when the team was under pressure, so it was a fantastic performance from Shreyas Iyer,” Laxman told while speaking exclusively on Star Sports Follow The Blues.

“It will be difficult, but I believe that Mayank Aggarwal in both the innings gave an underwhelming performance and was uncomfortable at the crease. Cheteshwar Pujara has the ability to open, he has opened the innings previously.

“The number 3 position can be filled by Ajinkya Rahane, Virat Kohli can come at number 4 and Shreyas can come in at number 5 because how can you ignore his performance. So, I think it’s a tough call that Rahul Dravid and Virat Kohli have to take. I hope that they take the right decision and don’t ignore the performance of Shreyas Iyer,” Laxman added.

Laxman is also looking forward to seeing Virat Kohli back in the Test team. Kohli had scored his last Test century back in 2019 against Bangladesh, which was also his last International ton.

“I’m really looking forward to the return of Virat Kohli because we know that he missed the first Test and the T20 series. It has been some time since Virat Kohli got the match at the three-figure mark and we know what a quality player he is. So, I am expecting him to straight away come, and create an impact because we know whenever he plays to his potential, he poses a lot of threat to any bowling unit. So, the player to watch out for me will be Virat Kohli.”

The second Test match will be played in Mumbai from December 3.