Debutant Shreyas Iyer was guts, aggression and flair rolled into one during an unbeaten knock of 75, which was nothing short of a baptism by fire, as India ended on 258 for four on the first day of the opening Test against New Zealand here on Thursday.

On a pitch that had variable bounce and didn’t offer enough pace off it, Iyer put his best foot forward while facing 136 balls, hitting seven boundaries and two sixes on his very first day in office in the longest format. The 113-run unbroken partnership between Ravindra Jadeja and Iyer might prove to be the winning one in the final analysis.