‘I wanted to stay long in the middle for more runs’

LUCKNOW: For every domestic cricket fan, Priyank Panchal is a familiar name as the extraordinary performance by the young man from Ahmedabad in Ranji Trophy last season made him popular.

Even after scoring 1300 runs, third highest by any batsman in the history of the tournament, Panchal’s insatiable thirst for run was very much there when he hit a sparkling ton for India Red against India Green in the Duleep Trophy here on Thursday.

“I wanted to stay long in the middle as I was hungry for runs,” Panchal was quick to react in the post match interaction with the HT. “I missed the tour of South Africa for India A due to dengue and was taking rest before coming here to play the domestic season opener.”

“I could have scored more runs as after some initial hiccups the red clay pitch was perfect for my batting. I don’t know where my performance would take me to, but for now, I am trying to score as much as runs I could do for my team.”

“I am feeling fresh now and enjoying my cricket. Undoubtedly, the wicket is slow and you have to play with a straight bat as the rivals are bowling in right areas and that too according to their field,” said Panchal, 27.

Terming the pitch quite helpful for spinners, Panchal, who struck his 12th first-class century, admitted that adjusting with pink ball and that too under the flood lights was quite challenging for him but he adjusted himself quickly.

“It’s my first game with pink ball and that too under the lights so I was quite cautious in the beginning. Later on, I opted to play a bit late as the pink ball does reverse swing quite often and it’s difficult for a batsman to be pre-committed for a shot.”

He, however, accepted that besides the opening wicket partnership between him and Sudip Chatterjee, one more partnership was must for the side on the first day of the game. “We needed to have one more partnership today but still I am sure for the team to score 350 plus runs.”

TERMING THE PITCH QUITE HELPFUL FOR SPINNERS, PANCHAL, ADMITTED THAT ADJUSTING WITH PINK BALL UNDER THE LIGHTS WAS QUITE CHALLENGING FOR HIM