Ever since he amassed 1310 runs from 10 matches in the Ranji Trophy tournament in 2016-17, at an average of 87.33 and a highest score of 314 not out, Priyank Panchal has been knocking on the doors of the national team. The opener from Gujarat on Friday showed how resilient and equipped he is to deal with challenging situations.
In the second ‘Test’ at the KSCA Stadium here, batting certainly wasn’t easy against a fine New Zealand-A seam attack on a responsive track and in overcast conditions. The scoreboard -- 68 for four -- is a testimony.
Panchal, however, played from the front to bail his team out of a tough position before being dismissed for 87.
“Obviously I am disappointed but as a team, we are in a decent position now,” Panchal said after the rain-affected second day's play.
The Gujarat opener said it was a challenging wicket, but he was prepared for it.
“As an opener, I have to play on fresh wickets like this against the new ball,” he said.
“New Zealand-A bowled well. They were bowling in partnerships. Having played against them, I knew they were going to bowl a lot of short balls and that they were going to use their two short balls in an over.”
The skipper said the India-A series were really helpful for cricketers like him. “We have international players in our team and these India-A matches will help all of us,” he said. “Such tours are very important.”
