Ricky Ponting shares heartfelt message for Shreyas Iyer after batter makes Test debut against New Zealand

Former Australia captain and Delhi Capitals' head coach Ricky Ponting has lavished praise on Shreyas Iyer after he made his Test debut for India against New Zealand. Ponting has seen Iyer’s rise from a batter to a leader in the Capitals setup. It was this deadly combination of the experienced Ponting and a fearless leader Iyer that took the new team to the finals of the IPL 2020. The Mumbai batter was made the skipper of the franchise in 2018 and since then has taken the team to great heights.

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Not only while leading but Iyer has also shown maturity in his batting as well. During the early stages of his IPL career, the elegant right-hand batter would score 30 40 runs and would throw his wicket away. Since the past two years, that has changed as he played according to situations. Ponting took to Twitter and congratulated Iyer for all the hard work he has put behind the scenes.

"Having seen all the work you've put in over the last few years, very well deserved and only the beginning for you mate. Proud of you Shreyas Iyer," tweeted Ponting quoting the BCCI video.

Having seen all the work you've put in over the last few years, very well deserved and only the beginning for you mate. Proud of you @ShreyasIyer15. https://t.co/Tnb3xZNXhX

— Ricky Ponting AO (@RickyPonting) November 25, 2021

The India batter was handed his debut cap by legendary cricketer Sunil Gavaskar ahead of the start of the first Test in Kanpur on Thursday (November 25).

Incidentally, it was at the Kanpur stadium in 2014 when the Mumbai head coach Pravin Amre had told Iyer to buckle up and score runs in the first-class cricket. Exactly seven years later, the 26-year-old returns to the stadium, this time getting an opportunity to make his Test debut. In first-class cricket, the right-hand batter has scored 4592 runs from 54 matches at an incredible average of 52.18.