India selectors have been under the scanner ever-since the squad for the upcoming West Indies tour has been announced. Many fans and former cricketers slammed the selection committee for overlooking Mumbai batter Sarfaraz Khan, despite his major contributions in the domestic cricket. Another brilliant domestic batter, who got ignored by the selectors is Priyank Panchal. The 33-year-old Gujarat-based batter was earlier named as an injury replacement for Rohit Sharma during a Test series against South Africa in 2022 but could not find a place in the Playing XI.
In a recent interview, Panchal revealed that he has taken the snub in a really positive way and stated that selection is something that is not in a player's hand.
"I think the selection is completely out of our control. What I think is you just have to keep on scoring runs against good teams on any kind of wicket and in any kind of situation. Someday that confidence will come in others that maybe you are capable of facing those tough situations. So if we start thinking about all those calculations of selection then it will be very difficult for any cricketer to focus. If you come in such a situation once, you will lose out on 2-3 months. So just keep your head down and keep and scoring runs," said Panchal on Sportskeeda.
"Yes it is a bit difficult when you are in the team and you think you may get that chance and you don't get it. But it is not something that should completely consume your mind and you cannot move ahead. These things have happened before and may happen ahead as so many players are playing in the country and thankfully we have so much talent and competition. I feel that as long as I am part of that competition, it's better. I want to play for the country, so I try to minimise thinking and maximize on how I can get better," he added.
During the West Indies tour, a total of 10 matches will be played, including three ODIs and five T20Is. The tour will kick off with a two-match Test series, the first of which will be played from July 12 to 16 in Dominica.
India's Test squad: Rohit Sharma (Captain), Shubman Gill, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Virat Kohli, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Ajinkya Rahane (vice-captain), KS Bharat (wicket-keeper), Ishan Kishan (wicket-keeper), Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Axar Patel, Mohd. Siraj, Mukesh Kumar, Jaydev Unadkat, Navdeep Saini.
India's ODI squad: Rohit Sharma (Captain), Shubman Gill, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Virat Kohli, Surya Kumar Yadav, Sanju Samson (wicket-keeper), Ishan Kishan (wicket-keeper), Hardik Pandya (vice-captain), Shardul Thakur, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Jaydev Unadkat, Mohd. Siraj, Umran Malik, Mukesh Kumar.