Who is Priyank Panchal: Know all about the opener who replaced Rohit Sharma in India squad

Mumbai, December 14: Priyank Panchal is the new star in India cricket after he replaced Rohit Sharma, who was ruled out of the Test series against South Africa with a hamstring injury.

Panchal is not a youngster who rose like a meteor over a season but an experienced campaigner in India domestic cricket and recently played for India A during their tour of South Africa.

So, who is Priyank Panchal? Here MyKhel pens a quick profile of the Gujarat opener.

1 Personal info

Date of Birth: April 9, 1990

Age: 31

Birth place: Ahmedabad, Gujarat.

2 Domestic record

First-Class record: M: 100; Runs: 7011, Avg: 45.52, 100: 24, 50: 25.

List A record: M: 75, Runs: 2854; Avg: 40.19; 100: 5, 50: 18.

T20 Record: M: 50, Runs: 1327, Avg: 29.48, SR: 126.98, 50: 8.

3 Important milestones

The 31-year-old right-handed opener is an experienced campaigner in India domestic cricket and played a big part in Gujarat winning their maiden Ranji Trophy title in the 2016-17 season. He can be a handy part-time medium pacer too.

Priyank is third specialist opener for India behind KL Rahul and Mayank Agarwal in South Africa. Priyank was also part of India’s extended squad for the home series against England earlier this year.

Priyank’s breakout season came in 2016-17 edition of domestic cricket. He scored over 1300 runs for Gujarat including a 314 against Punjab. He was the top run-getter in that season.

Priyank continued to amass runs in the subsequent seasons too scoring 542 runs in the 2017-18 season, 898 runs in the 2019-20 season. He also made 367 runs from 8 Vijay Hazare Trophy matches that season.

4 India A career

As part of the India A establishment, Priyank has worked closely with current India coach Rahul Dravid.

Priyank had made a fine hundred against New Zealand A in 2020 at the Hagley Oval but Shubman Gill scored a double hundred in that game to jump ahead in the queue.

In 2019, Priyank scored a fluent 160 against Sri Lanka A and also scored two fifties — 58 and 68 — on a tricky pitch at Trinidad to guide India A to win over their West Indian counterparts the same year.