India batter Shreyas Iyer on Friday (November 26) invited his coach Pravin Amre for dinner at his home after fulfilling the condition of scoring a Test hundred.
Playing his debut Test match, Iyer slammed 105 in India’s first innings against New Zealand at Green Park, Kanpur.
See Also: Kohli, Sachin congratulate Shreyas Iyer for century on Test debut
Long before his maiden Test ton, the right-hander was told by Amre that he would "only come to your place for dinner if you score a (Test) century".
"So after today's game, not game, basically after today's century, I'll message him and invite him for dinner," quipped Iyer during a virtual press conference after the second day’s play in Kanpur.
With this knock, Shreyas Iyer became the 16th Indian to smash a century on Test debut. Other big names to have scored a hundred on Test debut for India include Gundappa Viswanath, Mohammed Azharuddin, Sourav Ganguly, Virender Sehwag, Rohit Sharma, and Shikhar Dhawan.
Amre, who also hit a century on his Test debut against South Africa in 1992, has been coaching Shreyas for many years now.
"Pravin sir obviously, whenever I go for training, he keeps on saying that you have achieved a lot in your life, you have been the captain of an IPL team, you have scored so many runs, this and that, but that was in white-ball cricket. But your main achievement would be when you receive the Test cap and I am sure he would be really happy when I received it," Iyer said.
Shreyas was overwhelmed by the congratulatory messages that he received after scoring a maiden Test century.
"I didn't not think that I lost an opportunity, I think in a way that I did not get an opportunity. Because, even though I was injured, I was in good shape and also in U19 I was in a good frame of mind. Now I got an opportunity in Tests and in the first one, I scored a hundred, that feeling is different and I cannot express it. I received a lot of messages and all were saying that this is an achievement and this is the best thing you have achieved in life and it took me back to my Mumbai cricketing days, it is a good feeling," he said.
According to Iyer, his father and mother have been the reasons for his success.
"My dad, he obviously loves Test cricket the most and to give him this gift – a century – would be the best achievement for me and also for him as well as a father. It is a great feeling for both of us and my mom and dad, they have been really supportive throughout my journey and they have been the pillars of my success so far," he concluded.
(With PTI inputs)
