Former India opener Aakash Chopra said that while changes will be made in the Indian playing XI for the second Test match against New Zealand in Mumbai from December 3rd; however, he said that that it will be highly impossible for Shreyas Iyer to be dropped after his tremendous debut in Kanpur.
While Chopra did not mention who, according to him, will be given the axe, he maintained that Iyer has sealed his place thanks to his 105 and 65 in his first outings in Test cricket. He became the first Indian to make a hundred and a half-century on his Test debut.
"The only Indian to score and century and fifty in a Test match on debut. The first innings was brilliant because there were nerves but the pitch was a little better. Nobody had seen what he was bringing to the table in the longer format. The second innings, in my opinion, is far more challenging and therefore far more satisfying.
These 65 runs he has scored came under enormous pressure because if he had gotten out in the first innings, India would have batted again anyways. Test match, like life, gives you the second opportunity but not when you are batting for the second time. If Shreyas Iyer had been dismissed in that point of time in the second innings, this was game, set, and match in favor of New Zealand,” Chopra said on the tea-break show on Star Sports.
“So, him being there and dominating with regards to how he played the spinners, now it's almost impossible to ignore him, drop him for the next Test match no matter who is coming in. Somebody will go out but that guy won't be Shreyas Iyer," commented Chopra.
