Run-machine Panchal on cloud nine

 In Gujarat’s record chase of 312 against Mumbai in the Ranji Trophy final here at the Holkar Cricket Stadium on Saturday, the 116-run stand between captain Parthiv Patel and Manprit Juneja turned out be decisive. However, it was opener Priyank Panchal, who provided just the start Gujarat were looking for in a big chase.

Having scored 411 all out in their second innings on the fourth day, Mumbai bowlers had one hour to have a go at Gujarat batsmen. A couple of wickets during that period would have given Mumbai the edge going into the final day but Panchal’s breezy unbeaten 34 (45b, 7x4) that evening helped Gujarat end the day on 47 for no loss, keeping the game in balance.

Panchal, who was a bit too defensive in the first innings when he scored just six off 56 balls, batted with more freedom. Though he missed out on scoring a big one, Panchal laid the perfect foundation in Gujarat’s pursuit of the target.

The Ahmedabad-born batsman, who ended as the season’s highest run-getter with a whopping 1310 runs from 10 games at an average of 87.33, was the fulcrum of Gujarat’s batting.

Though he missed out on VVS Laxman’s record of 1415, most in a season, a shy and soft spoken Panchal said more than record, winning the title was his goal.

“We worked hard right through the season and when we started off, our goal was to win the trophy. I am not disappointed that I missed the record because we are the Ranji champions and that is bigger than any personal feats,” said Panchal.

A 101-run knock against Railways in Rohtak in their second group stage game set the tone for Panchal’s campaign and the right-handed batsman was unstoppable from there onwards.

He backed up his 232 against Mumbai in Hubballi with a brilliant unbeaten 314 against Punjab in Belagavi. The 26-year-old then struck an important 149 in the semifinals against Jharkhand.

Panchal, who piled up 665 runs last season, wasn’t just satisfied with getting hundreds and this change in mindset has helped him produce big knocks. “I was able to get the centuries and in the previous two seasons I scored more than 500 runs. But I wasn’t happy with just the centuries and I wanted to convert them into bigger scores and I have worked on it,” offered Panchal.

Revealing his method of training during the off-season, Panchal said: “At the ‘nets’, I created match-like situations and batted around it. I learnt a lot from that,” he offered.

Panchal rates his triple ton, which came on a seaming track, as special. “It was a green top and Punjab played four seamers. For a batsman, it keeps running in his mind that the opposition has four fast bowlers. Under such circumstances, it felt great to score a triple hundred,” said Panchal, who made his first-class debut eight years ago.

After losing his father at the age of 15, Panchal has come a long way in realising his dreams. “My father, who was a university level cricketer, was my first coach and he encouraged me a lot to become a cricketer. Every cricketer’s dream is to play for the country and I want to take it match by match. I want to keep performing well,” he concluded.