India tour of South Africa: Priyank Panchal on Monday got his maiden Test call-up at the age of 31 and after playing 100 first-class matches, and the Gujarat captain has found the time just right to recall a lesson which he got from India head coach Rahul Dravid. Follow India vs South Africa Live on InsideSport.IN.
India tour of South Africa: Priyank Panchal recalls lesson from Rahul Dravid after maiden Test call-up
The incident dates back to 2019 when Panchal was named the captain of the India A team and could not hold his excitement on the new role. The excitement was such that the Ahmedabad-born found it hard to plan and operate things. It was at that very moment when Rahul Dravid chipped in calmed the nerves of Priyank Panchal. Panchal “absorbed” the soothing and motivating words “instantly” as a cricketer.
“I have seen how hard Rahul sir would train at the NCA [National Cricket Academy] during my Under-15 days. I have followed him ever since I began my career. I have been lucky to have interacted with him while with India A,” Panchal has told The Indian Express.
“So Rahul sir had told me, ‘Just be normal. You have it naturally within you, and that is why you have been given this job. You don’t need to change your game at all. Just follow your path, the way you have performed in domestic cricket all these years, just do that here.’ That really helped me. When he says something, you absorb it instantly as a cricketer, because it comes from someone who has had such a long cricketing journey and so much experience.”
The wait for Priyank Panchal could have gotten longer but Rohit Sharma‘s left hamstring injury while training in Mumbai ahead of the all-important South Africa tour came as a blessing in disguise for the right-hander. The opener very recently captained the India A team which toured South Africa for three 4-day matches. He scored impressive 96 runs in the very first innings of the tour.
NEWS – Priyank Panchal replaces injured Rohit Sharma in India’s Test squad.
Rohit sustained a left hamstring injury during his training session here in Mumbai yesterday. He has been ruled out of the upcoming 3-match Test series against South Africa.#SAvIND | @PKpanchal9 pic.twitter.com/b8VgoN52LW
— BCCI (@BCCI) December 13, 2021
Panchal does not mind having to wait for so long to get into the senior India men’s cricket team. For him “consistency and persistence” were the most important things.
“It is okay, it is part of my life. It is part of any cricketer’s life,” Panchal told The Indian Express.
“There are so many players competing, so at times there used to be hope and at times not. But I would never ask people, ‘mera chance kab Banega?’ (when will my chance come?), because logically speaking, no one can have that answer. I would instead ask how I can improve my game.
“Consistency and persistence were the most important things for me. That is what I have learnt in my career as well as in my personal life. It is not an overnight process. And I knew that if I kept performing, someday I would get the chance.
Thank you everyone for all your good wishes. Honoured to be donning the team India jersey. Thank you for showing faith in me @BCCI . Looking forward to the series!
— Priyank Panchal (@PKpanchal9) December 14, 2021
“My family, my friends and my willingness to be in the Indian team – that was my driving force, that I have to play for India no matter what,” he added.
Overall, Priyank Panchal has scored 7011 runs from his 100 first-class matches at a solid average of 45.52. The batsman has 24 hundreds and 25 fifties to his name.
India tour of South Africa: Priyank Panchal recalls lesson from Rahul Dravid after maiden Test call-up
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