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Despite being arguably one of the finest talents in recent domestic cricket history, former Gujarat batter Priyank Panchal announced his retirement from all forms of the game without even making a single appearance for the Indian cricket team in any format. He is someone who despite being incredibly talented, got left in the shadows by the massive number of other talented youngsters in the country.
The right-hand batter began his first-class career way back in the year 2008. He eventually ended up becoming a legend for Gujarat, scoring a total of 8856 runs in first-class cricket, 3672 runs in List A cricket and 1522 runs in T20s. Panchal also has a massive 29 tons under his name in first-class cricket and eight more in List A cricket. At one stage, he was even the captain of India A.
Panchal only got selected in India's squad once
However, despite superb performances with the bat at the domestic circuit, Panchal was never able to make the cut into the Indian team. He came quite close to doing so and even got selected in the Men in Blue's Test squad for the tour against South Africa back in 2021. But, his name never came up in the playing XI.
After trying for years and years to earn his maiden India cap, Panchal decided to give up and hanged up his boots in May, 2025. He announced the decision through a post on Instagram and bid adieu to all forms of the game once and for all.
In an exclusive interview with Sports Tak, Panchal opened up about taking the tough retirement call and revealed how his parents reacted after he told them about it.
"The decision wasn't easy and I discussed it a lot with my family. People around me had told me that I can still play. But age matters when it comes to any sport and after a certain age, it is not easy to achieve success. I thought this was the best time to retire for me as I had hit a century in my final match for Gujarat. I did have a dream but I didn't want my career to deteriorate further and that is when I decided that it is time," Panchal said during the interview.
The 35-year-old also thanked his state cricket association and team management, who helped him in achieving several things in cricket and added that even though he wasn't able to achieve his dream of playing for India, he has no complains about it.
"I had a dream of representing India since the start of my career. I was able to achieve a lot of things in my career thanks to support from my state's association and team management. I played in Ranji Trophy, Duleep Trophy and even became the captain of India A. After achieving this much, I was hoping to get what I always expected. But I don't have anything to complain about, that is just how life is," Panchal stated.
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