Priyank Panchal replaces Rohit Sharma for the upcoming SA test series. In case you are wondering ” who is Priyank Panchal?” who suddenly replaces injured Rohit Sharma. So here we will explain to you why he was picked for the SA tour.
On Monday, 13th of December news came around that Rohit Sharma, The newly appointed vice-captain of the Indian test team, got injured on Sunday while practicing in nets for the upcoming SA tour.
The Indian team will play 3 tests and 3 ODI matches between Dec 26 to Jan 23 in South Africa. Rohit Sharma was appointed ODI captain and test vice-captain a few days ago by the BCCI panel after removing Virat Kohli from the ODI captain and Ajinkya Rahane from test vice-captaincy.
In replacement of injured Rohit Sharma, Gujrat state player Priyank Panchal has been selected for the SA test series, he was the captain and opening batsman for the India A in the recently concluded test series.
Upgaded Squad Test Series:
Virat Kohli (Captain), KL Rahul, Mayank Agarwal, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Shreyas Iyer, Hanuma Vihari, Rishabh Pant (wk), Wriddhiman Saha (wk), R Ashwin, Ishant Sharma, Mohd. Shami, Umesh Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Shardul Thakur, Md. Siraj, Jayant Yadav, Priyank Panchal.
Who is Priyank Panchal ?
A 31 years old right-hand top-order batsman, who plays for his state team Gujrat, was born in 1990 in Ahmadabad Gujrat.
Priyank has played more than 200 matches for his state team and has scored more than 11000 runs in domestic cricket with an average of over 40 plus.
He has been waiting for this call for a long time. Priyank has shown great consistency over the years in domestic matches, but because of some extraordinary players like Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul and etc., Priyank has not been selected for the Indian squad.
Domestic stats:
| Format | Matches | Inns | Runs | HS | Ave | SR | 100s | 50s |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FC | 100 | 163 | 7011 | 314* | 45.52 | 52.75 | 24 | 25 |
| List A | 75 | 75 | 2854 | 135* | 40.19 | 78.79 | 5 | 18 |
| T20 | 50 | 49 | 1327 | 79 | 29.48 | 126.98 | 0 | 8 |
Read also: India’s Squad/WTC points table/Squad announcement for SA tour
Why Picked?
Here we will elaborate on some logical reasons behind why Priyank Panchal was selected for the SA tour, despite there being more experience players than him in the squad.
- Consistency over the years in domestic level.
| Year | Matches | Innings | Runs | Highest | Average | 50 | 100 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 08 | 12 | 665 | 141 | 55.41 | 2 | 3 |
| 2016 | 10 | 17 | 1310 | 314* | 87.33 | 4 | 5 |
| 2017 | 07 | 10 | 542 | 152 | 60.22 | 2 | 2 |
| 2018 | 09 | 17 | 898 | 141 | 59.86 | 5 | 4 |
| 2019 | 09 | 17 | 457 | 105 | 28.56 | 1 | 1 |
| 2020 | CORONA | ||||||
| 2021 | SA TOUR |
- Performed well in recently concluded test series in South Africa with India A. Panchal scored 120 runs with the average of 40.00 as an opener.
- Other competitor like as Shikhar Dhawan (out of form in away condition), Prithvi Shaw ( scored 151 runs in 5 innings with the low average of 30.20 in SA tour), Shubhman Gill (injury in last series) and Abhimanyu Easwaran (recently demoted to 3rd number) are not in contention. so he is an automatic pick for team India.
Schedule for IND vs SA tour:
| Date | Match Detail |
| Dec 26- Dec 30 | 1st Test |
| Jan 03- Jan 07 | 2nd Test |
| Jan 11 – Jan 15 | 3rd Test |
| Jan 19 | 1st ODI |
| Jan 21 | 2nd ODI |
| Jan 23 | 3rd ODI |
So here we have discussed debutant Priyank Panchal, who is the replacement of injured Rohit Sharma. This will be the best chance for Priyank to convert his career into the next highest if he gets the chance there in the South Africa series.
If you have your own thought, you can write us below in the comment section.
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