Gujarat batter Priyank Panchal calls it quits from all formats of cricket

‌Gujarat batter Priyank Panchal has decided to end his 17-year-old cricketing career announcing retirement from all formats of the game on his Twitter handle on Monday. The 35-year-old opener, who made his debut in a one-day match against Maharashtra in February 2008 is Gujarat’s highest run-getter in the Ranji Trophy, India’s premier domestic tournament.

During his stint with Gujarat, Priyank amassed 8856 runs in 127 first-class matches and also scored 29 centuries, the most by any batter from the state in first-class cricket. He played a pivotal role in Gujarat’s Ranji Trophy-winning campaign in the 2016-17 season topping the overall run charts with a massive tally of 1310 runs with five centuries and four fifties from 10 matches at an astonishing average of 87.33.

That season catapulted Panchal into the zonal and India A sides and was often part of the discussions during selection meetings for India squads. However, he could not don the national colours in Tests though he was part of the Indian team that toured South Africa in 2021/22 as he replaced an injured Rohit Sharma.

Priyank has played 97 one-dayers in domestic cricket tallying 3672 runs at an average of 40.80 with eight hundreds and 21 fifties. He was also part of the Gujarat cricket team that won the Vijay Hazare Trophy domestic one-day competition in 2015.

The opener has represented Gujarat in 59 T20 matches scoring 1522 runs with nine fifties to his name. He was the top scorer in Gujarat’s victorious campaign in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy in the 2014-15 season. He is one of the few cricketers to have won domestic titles in all formats of the game with the same side.

Panchal was last seen in action during Gujarat’s dramatic semi-final loss to Kerala in the Ranji Trophy 2024-25 season. However, the batter stood out with a stroke-filled 148 that helped his side to be within touching distance of Kerala’s first-innings total.