There’s a popular story of when Rahul Dravid first caught a glimpse of Shreyas Iyer in a first-class game. “It was a four-day match.. the first day’s last over,” Iyer later told Cricbuzz. “I was batting on 30 or something, so everyone thought (that since) it is the last over I’ll play out the over, I’ll play it carefully and finish it. Rahul Dravid sir was sitting inside. The bowler bowled a flighted delivery, so I stepped out and hit it in the air. It went high up in the air and it was a six.”

Dravid apparently had a word with him, cautioning him that while the outcome was fine this time, it was one risk too many to take off the last ball of a day.

Known for his aggressive batting in domestic circles, Iyer has a first-class strike-rate above 80 and the reputation of a spin-basher, once even taking down the duo of Nathan Lyon and Steve O’Keefe in a tour game before the very same duo ran amok over the India line-up a few days later in the first Test of Australia’s visit in 2017.

On his Test debut, he showed ample evidence of his ability to tone down the heart-in-the-mouth approach and tackle the tough periods. His hundred and half-century in the Test in Kanpur came when the team were struggling at 145-5 and 51-5. He still had a decent strike-rate in both innings, speaking of an innate ability to maintain a positive approach whatever the circumstances.

It wasn’t too different at the Chinnaswamy stadium in Bengaluru on Saturday where Iyer walked off to a standing ovation after making 92 in 98 balls. Stepping out onto a minefield after just witnessing Virat Kohli receive an unplayable, low delivery, a puff of dust as the ball pitched, Iyer’s first response to the surface was to try and stay on the front foot to keep out the ones keeping low.

Few players in India handle spin as well as Iyer and here he smothered the spinners, hitting with the turn and latching onto anything short. His first scoring shot against the turn came in the 37th over, nearly 10 overs of spin after he walked in to bat; a flowing cover drive off a juicy overpitched delivery from Lasith Embuldeniya.

Through his innings, Iyer rocked back only when it was a half-tracker and played against the turn only when the ball was too full. When those came, he hardly ever missed out and he ensured they came often by not letting the spinners bowl to a length.

“When I was waiting to bat, I could see there was drama happening every over,” Iyer said after the day’s play. “I just decided I couldn’t get out defending the ball because there was more chance of getting out that way. So we had to have that intent.”

He explained how he went onto the back foot or skipped down the wicket to disrupt the bowler’s rhythm and avoiding having to face too many balls in the right area.

“The first five balls were really difficult, especially with tea close by. I had to play through the two overs and get to the tea break. Once I did, I went in and told the coaching staff what I had in mind and they were very supportive,” Iyer said.

The fifty came in 54 balls soon after Rishabh Pant had flaunted his array of strokes. Iyer had a slice of luck along the way, dropped at mid-wicket immediately after his fifty. But Iyer wasn’t going to die wondering on a track that had eaten up Rohit Sharma, Hanuma Vihari and Kohli.

These are still early days, but in his four-match Test career, Iyer has taken to the middle-order role deftly. The questions around him, though, have never been in sub-continental conditions where his ability to counter spin is well acknowledged. Rather, it is on those tougher overseas tours with fast, bouncy pitches where Iyer would face the litmus test.

A stomach bug in South Africa might have denied him the chance to show what he could offer in those conditions, although it wasn’t apparent if he would have started ahead of Vihari.

Wasim Jaffer was quick to caution everyone after Iyer’s impressive Test debut that his major challenge would be the “ball that bounces onto him”.

“Sometimes I feel, even in ODIs, the bowlers target him there,” Jaffer said. “And in Test cricket, he’s going to get peppered with short balls. When he goes to South Africa, I am sure they’re going to test him there. And that is something, a test he needs to pass. Because you can’t take them on, somebody who’s bowling 140-145 [kph].”

For now, though, with the middle-order passing through a lull, Iyer has walked in and owned the slot, showing impeccable game awareness and maturity. It is too early to decide Iyer won’t still succeed in tougher conditions or that he wouldn’t overcome his issues with the short ball, especially when he’s done enough to deserve a long run.