'Rahul Sir had told me...': Shreyas Iyer reveals he was determined to implement Dravid's advice

KANPUR: India batter Shreyas Iyer said that his strategy while playing against New Zealand was to focus on the 'present' and play as many balls as possible.

Team India found themselves on top after Shreyas Iyer and Wriddhiman Saha showed grit and determination with the bat to help hosts fight back against New Zealand on Day 4 of the ongoing first Test here at Green Park, Kanpur on Sunday.

"I had been in this situation before as well, not with the Indian team but with my Ranji team. The mindset was to play the session and play as many balls as possible. I wasn't thinking too far ahead, was just focusing on the present. (On being the first Indian to score a ton and a fifty in debut Test) Yeah, I knew about it. When I came back, one of my teammates told me about it. Yeah, many others have done it from other teams but I was told I am the first from India. It feels good but the most important thing is to win the match," Shreyas Iyer told host broadcasters Star Sports after the Stumps on Day 4.

"Rahul Sir had told me to bat as many balls as possible and I was determined to do that. We felt that 250 including the first-innings lead would have been a good score, so we're very happy with where we are now. Actually, not a lot was happening with the wicket today, the ball was keeping a bit low. The talk was to get to a competitive total and I feel that it's a really good total. We have real spin power, so hopefully, we can get the job done tomorrow," he added.

Coming to the match, on the cusp of stumps, Team India declared their second innings at 234/7d, giving the visitors the target of 284 to win the match. For hosts, Wriddhiman Saha and Axar Patel remained unbeaten with innings of 61* and 28* respectively.

At stumps, New Zealand's score read 4/1 with Tom Lathan (2*) and William Somerville (0*) currently unbeaten at the crease. Ravichandran Ashwin scalped the lone wicket of Will Young in the last session of Day 4.