As Indians were gearing up for the three-match Test series against South Africa, they suffered a massive blow with newly-appointed vice-captain Rohit Sharma being ruled out with an injury to his hamstring. The right-hander is reported to have suffered the injury during a training session in Mumbai and Priyank Panchal has been named his replacement. While it does leave the Indian squad depleted, it is also a very big opportunity for someone like Panchal, who has been grinding hard in domestic cricket for a long time and has a good time with the bat while captaining India A during the unofficial Tests against South Africa A. Rohit Sharma Ruled Out of South Africa Test Series Due to Hamstring Injury, Priyank Panchal Named Replacement

Panchal, a right-handed batter, has been drafted into the official squad touring South Africa for the Test series. However, he is unlikely to feature in Rohit's place, i.e the opening slot with Mayank Agarwal the leading candidate to partner KL Rahul at the top. Panchal can still be part of the team and it would be interesting to see when and where he is picked by the team

Here are some facts about the Gujarat cricketer:

Priyank Panchal was born on April 9, 1990 in Ahmedabad.

He has played 100 First-Class matches where he has scored 7011 runs with a highest score of 314*, which came in the 2016-17 season when Gujarat won the Ranji Trophy. The right-hander also has 24 First-Class hundreds with 25 fifties.

Panchal made his First-Class debut for Gujarat against Saurashtra in Rajkot, 2008 and has been leading his side after Parthiv Patel retired last year.

He also recently captained India A in two out of the three-match unofficial Test series against South Africa where he had a top score of 90.

This is also not the first time that Panchal is part of the Indian squad. Earlier, he was picked in India's squad for the Test series against England at home this year.

Panchal's call-up to the Test team is a testament to his hard work in domestic cricket and he would eagerly wait for an opportunity in Virat Kohli's side, given his recent experience of playing in South Africa. With his vast First-Class experience, he could prove to be quite handy in South Africa, should he get an opportunity.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Dec 13, 2021 08:28 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).