India vs New Zealand: Shubman Gill smashes a fluent six down the ground off Ajaz Patel

The opening day’s play of the first Test between India and New Zealand is currently in progress in Kanpur. The hosts have got off to a decent start after opting to bat first despite losing Mayank Agarwal early in the first hour. Shubman Gill has led the way with the bat along with Cheteshwar Pujara with India aiming to post a big total on the board in the first innings.

This is a comeback game for Gill who was injured and ruled out of the England tour following the World Test Championship (WTC) final against New Zealand. He was certain to take Virat Kohli’s spot at number four in the Kanpur Test but an injury to KL Rahul led to Gill opening the innings with Agarwal.

And the man is looking to good pouncing on the opportunity at the top of the order. He has hit five fours and a six in his unbeaten half-century so far and has looked extremely elegant in his stay. After surviving a tricky phase early on when the new ball swung, Gill started to play his shots and one of them came off Ajaz Patel in the 17th over which went for a massive six.

The left-arm spinner flighted his first delivery of the over. Shubman Gill was quick to use his feet to get to the pitch of the ball and smash it down the ground over long-on for a massive six. It was an authoritative shot from the batter showing ominous signs to come for New Zealand.

Here’s the video:

pic.twitter.com/CZK8CVNHXG

— Simran (@CowCorner9) November 25, 2021

India hand Test debut to Shreyas Iyer

As far as the playing combinations are concerned, India handed a Test debut to Shreyas Iyer which didn’t seem to be coming 48 hours before the game. An injury to KL Rahul led to Shubman Gill opening the innings and that opened up a slot in the middle-order for Iyer. There was a temptation to play six batters for the hosts as well but they have decided to go with their set template of five bowlers.