List of Indian batsmen to score centuries on Test debut
Shreyas Iyer, who made his ODI and T20I debut for India in 2017, on Thursday (November 19) became the 303rd player to represent India in the longest format and how well did he grab the opportunity. On the second day morning of the first Test against New Zealand, Iyer reached his century and while doing so he became the 16th player for India to hit a ton on Test debut.
India’s hit ODI opening duo Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma made their Test debuts in the same year in 2013 and both smashed a ton in the first match itself against Australia and West Indies respectively. Another white-ball specialist batter Suresh Raina achieved the feat against Sri Lanka in Sri Lanka in 2010. Virender Sehwag was the first Indian to achieve the feat in the 21st century. He recorded a hundred against South Africa in 2001.
Shreyas Iyer became the 16th Indian to score a century on his Test debut
Often a reliable batter in limited-overs, Shreyas Iyer has grabbed his opportunity with both hands and is already looking like a pretty solid middle-order player in the Test arena too. Iyer was 75* at the stumps on Day 1 and had laid a solid platform for his team to get to a big score in the first innings.
It was a composed innings by the Mumbai lad as he is known for his big-hitting in the T20Is and in the Indian Premier League (IPL). After having kick-started his Test career in a great fashion, Iyer would like to score more and cement his place in the middle-order now that Ajinkya Rahane’s place is under a threat again.
List of centuries by Indians on Test debut match:
Players | Runs on debut | Opposition | Venue | Date |
Lala Amarnath | 118 | England | Mumbai | 15 Dec 1933 |
Deepak Shodan | 110 | Pakistan | Kolkata | 12 Dec 1952 |
AG Kripal Singh | 100* | New Zealand | Hyderabad (Deccan) | 19 Nov 1955 |
Abbas Ali Baig | 112 | England | Manchester | 23 Jul 1959 |
Hanumant Singh | 105 | v England | Delhi | 8 Feb 1964 |
Gundappa Viswanath | 137 | Australia | Kanpur | 15 Nov 1969 |
Surinder Amarnath | 124 | New Zealand | Auckland | 24 Jan 1976 |
Mohammad Azharuddin | 110 | v England | Kolkata | 31 Dec 1984 |
Pravin Amre | 103 | South Africa | Durban | 13 Nov 1992 |
Sourav Ganguly | 131 | England | Lord’s | 20 Jun 1996 |
Virender Sehwag | 105 | South Africa | Bloemfontein | 3 Nov 2001 |
Suresh Raina | 120 | Sri Lanka | Colombo (SSC) | 26 Jul 2010 |
Shikhar Dhawan | 187 | v Australia | Mohali | 14 Mar 2013 |
Rohit Sharma | 177 | West Indies | Kolkata | 6 Nov 2013 |
Prithvi Shaw | 134 | West Indies | Rajkot | 4 Oct 2018 |
Shreyas Iyer | 105 | New Zealand | Kanpur | 26 Nov 2021 |