Gujarat captain and opener Priyank Panchal is looking forward to reuniting with the great Rahul Dravid after joining India’s Test squad for the South Africa Test series. India A regular Panchal has made the cut after Rohit Sharma was ruled out of the tour due to a hamstring injury.
Panchal has worked closely with Dravid during his India A stint and will look to make his international debut in South Africa.
Panchal, a veteran of 100 first-class matches, got a valuable lesson from Dravid on handling the extra responsibility when he became India A’s captain for the first time in 2019.
“I was very excited during the training session, thinking that now that I am the captain, I have to do this and do that. In the excitement, you forget what you really want to do,” Panchal told Indian Express,
“So Rahul sir said to me, ‘Just be normal. It’s naturally within you, and that’s why you’ve been given this job. You don’t need to change your game at all. Just go your way, the way You have performed in domestic cricket all these years, just do it here. It really helped me,” he recalled.
He further added, “When he says something, you as a cricketer immediately imbibe it, because it comes from someone who has such a long cricketing journey and so much experience.”
Panchal said he has followed Dravid and knows the importance of work ethic by watching the current India head coach train at the National Cricket Academy during his Under-15 days.
“I have seen how hard Rahul sir used to work at NCA during my under-15 days. I have followed him ever since I started my career. I have been fortunate to have had the opportunity to interact with him at India A.”
India is scheduled to play three Test matches during the tour of South Africa starting from 26 December.
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