Who is Priyank Panchal, the Opener who replaced Rohit Sharma for SA series

Star Indian Batsman Rohit Sharma will miss the upcoming three-match Test series against South Africa due to a hamstring injury. He will be replaced in India’s squad by opener Priyank Panchal. The 31-year has been a consistent performer in Domestic cricket for long time but is still uncapped in all three formats for India. Now finally he could be in line for a debut against the Proteas. Priyank is third specialist opener for India behind KL Rahul and Mayank Agarwal in South Africa. He is also a handy medium pace bowler and can be prove to be effective on these pitches if given chance.

Priyank Panchal Led India A on SA Tour

Priyank led the team during India A tour to South Africa recently. In the first match, Panchal played an terrific knock of 96 and impressed everyone. However, he could not repeat the same performance in second match and was dismissed cheaply. But his most recent experience playing in these conditions could prove to be an advantage if he is part of the playing 11.

Performance in Domestic Circuit
Priyank made his debut for Gujarat in 2008 against Maharashtra during Vijay Hazare Trophy match. He played a superb knock scoring 123 runs. He has been the captain and leading batsman of the Gujarat Ranji Trophy team over the years and brings with him a lot of experience having played 100 first-class games. He even became the first cricketer from the state to score 300 in a Ranji Trophy match against Punjab in 2016.

In July 2018, he was a part of the India Green squad for the 2018–19 Duleep Trophy and later selected as captain of the India Red team for the same event. In January 2021, Panchal was one of five standby players in India’s Test team for England series.

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