(Cricket news) The 1st Test match between India and New Zealand at Kanpur ended in a draw. Captain Virat Kohli was rested for the game and his replacement was debutant Shreyas Iyer. The Mumbai batter scored 105 runs in his debut innings and then went on to score 65 in the 2nd innings.
Virat Kohli will be back for the 2nd and final Test in Mumbai which leaves Rahul Dravid with a big decision to make. In both the innings at Kanpur, India were in a difficult situation when Iyer walked in. The debutant showed incredible character and played according to the conditions to get his team to a winnable position. In hindsight, if Iyer had failed to perform, Kohli would've taken his place and there wouldn't be a discussion about it.
Kohli himself hasn't been in the best of form but being the captain and the fact that he is 'Virat Kohli' means that he has to play. The game will be very important for Virat Kohli on a personal level. A big innings in the match will set the tone for the Test series in South Africa where India has never won a red ball series before. The all-rounders Axar Patel, Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin all did well in the match so dropping them is out of question.
Shubhman Gill scored a half century in his first game after returning from injury. Which leaves Mayank Agarwal, Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane. Agarwal was dropped after disappointing performances in the first two Tests against Australia. He then batted in the middle at Gabba but scored only 38 and 9. He was first in line to replace Gill in the England series but concussion and KL Rahul's amazing performance kept him on the bench. He returned to the side at Kanpur but couldn't capitalise as he got 13 and 17 in the two innings.
Rahane and Pujara have had a difficult two years or so with the Willow. Rahane scored a magnificent century at Melbourne after which he had only one fifty which was against England in Chennai and 49 against England at Lord's both of which were very crucial for the team's win. Pujara on the other hand scored two gritty fifties in Australia, one of which secured a draw in Sydney and the other inspired a legendary victory at the Gabba. Since then he also has had a very poor run. His only notable performances have been a 45 at Lord's, followed by a 91 at Headingley and a 61 at the Oval.
Indian fans fear that Shreyas Iyer could be given the same treatment that Karun Nair got. After hitting a triple century in only his 3rd Test, Nair was dropped in the very next Test match in favour of Ajinkya Rahane. He then gave underwhelming performances in two home Tests against Australia and never played for India again. The same could happen to Iyer as Dravid has already come out and said that Rahane may be just one or two big innings away from getting back into form. That added to him being the vice captain makes dropping him more difficult.
At this point in time, Ajinkya Rahane looks the obvious choice to make way for Virat Kohli. Team India needs to pick a side that will win the Test match and not think about the future or fairness or harshness. India needs to beat New Zealand. All the away Test series wins will be massively overlooked if India lose or draw a home series against New Zealand.
