Man of the Match today India vs New Zealand Test: Who was awarded Man of the Match in IND vs NZ Kanpur Test?

Man of the Match: The Indian batter won the match award for becoming the first-ever Indian cricketer to score a century and hal-century on debut.

The final session of the recently concluded first Test between India and New Zealand in Kanpur turned out to be a cliffhanger as debutant New Zealand all-rounder Rachin Ravindra stood in between India and a victory.

New Zealand, who had six wickets in hand including that of captain Kane Williamson (24) at the start of the evening session, lost five at regular intervals to find themselves in deep trouble.

Coming in to bat at No. 8 in the 70th over, Ravindra managed both nervousness of a debutant and threat possessed by the Indian spinners on a Day 5 pitch with his praiseworthy skills which saw him defending almost everything which was bowled at him. Ravindra, who batted for 15.1 out of the 28.5 overs bowled in his presence, should take a lot of confidence from this innings for it this draw is no less than a victory.

Man of the Match today India vs New Zealand Kanpur Test

With bowling figures of 28-10-40-4, India all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja was the pick of the Indian bowlers in the second innings. Having scored his 17th Test half-century in the first innings, Jadeja had contributions across departments in this match.

However, it was debutant India batter Shreyas Iyer who pinned down Jadeja and New Zealand pacer Tim Southee (49.4-8-144-8) in winning the ‘Player of the Match’ award at the Green Park.

Following his 105 (171) in the first innings with a 65 (125) on Day 4, Iyer became the first-ever Indian cricketer to score a century and half-century on debut.

“It’s a great feeling but winning the game would have been icing on the game. The pitch was intact but our bowlers showed great fight. My mindset was to play the sessions and play as many balls as possible. People say I am a very flamboyant player but the situation required me to play longer.

“I am really proud the way we came out from a difficult position. I am really happy with the overall performance of the team. The pressure is always there, they had a great start and played out the first two session really well but we bounced back,” Iyer was quoted as saying by Star Sports during the post-match presentation ceremony.