Priyank Panchal’s India call-up has come after 100 first-class appearances and over 7000 runs. But Panchal’s wait could have been longer if not for Rohit Sharma’s hamstring injury that went on to pave the way for his selection in the squad for the upcoming three-Test series in South Africa.

However, what also may have worked in Panchal’s favour is his strength of character as well as perseverance, especially when he played through pain in India A’s second unofficial Test versus South Africa A in Bloemfontein. And that performance came in front of Harvinder Singh, who was at the ground as a representative of the national selection committee.

Aggregating 120 runs on the tour, including a superb 96, Panchal, who led India A in the first two matches, doesn’t wish to read much into his performance although the experience he gained there “certainly matters”.

“The campaign was quite pleasing, though I had to play with an injured finger (right index finger) in the second game. I got hurt while fielding on the first day of the match, and because of that, I had to miss the final game. That was obviously disappointing.

“Overall, in terms of my batting, I’m not too disappointed with how I fared there, having to make the necessary adjustments on wickets with more bounce and pace. But I just don’t want to read much into that as I’ve been to several ‘A’ tours,” Panchal told The Telegraph.

In other words, Panchal is excited at present, but has his feet firmly on the ground.

“Following this ‘A’ tour, I now have a little bit of idea as well about the conditions there in South Africa. So that way, I find the entire scenario to be quite exciting for me.

“But I don’t think the (senior) team members need to learn or know about the conditions there from me.

“The team has many players who are experienced enough, have been in those conditions and even thrived in them,” the 31-year-old said.

“So I’m just going with an open mind. I want to learn as much as I can from the senior cricketers and pick up as many things as possible, but am not thinking too far ahead,” Panchal added.

Dravid tip

His profile did get a little bit of lift when he was named India A’s captain for the recent tour. But Panchal doesn’t attach too much importance to it, something he has learnt from Rahul Dravid, when the current Team India head coach used to coach and mentor the ‘A’ team.

“This wasn’t the first time that I led India A. I was also appointed captain when Sri Lanka A were here in June 2019 (for the two unofficial Tests at Belgaum and Hubli in Karnataka). So captaincy isn’t something that’s new to me,” said Panchal, who also led Gujarat in this season’s Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 Trophy.

“But one of the most important advices Rahul Sir has given me is to never get over-excited.

“I remember when I was named captain during that series versus Sri Lanka A, he had clearly told me not to get overawed with captaincy… That rather, I should just keep focusing on my batting and keep looking at ways to improve my game further,” Panchal emphasised.