5 players who could have replaced Murali Vijay instead of Shikhar Dhawan

#5 Priyank Panchal

Panchal finished as the leading run-getter in last year’s Ranji Trophy

Last season was a breakout year for 27-year-old Gujarat opener Priyank Panchal. Although the right-hander has been consistent form in the first-class circuit, 2016/17 was the season in which he saw the door for national selection and after years of gently knocking on it, decided to break the door down through sheer volume of runs.

The leading run-scorer in last year's Ranji Trophy, Panchal was in simply sensational form and was one of the main reasons behind Gujarat's maiden Ranji title. No player managed over 1,000 runs in last year's tournament barring Panchal who scored 1,310 runs in 10 matches at an average of 87.33. His five centuries and four fifties, including an unbeaten 314 meant he fell just 105 short of breaking VVS Laxman’s record of most runs in a season.

His incredible performances earned him an India A call-up and yet he was overlooked for the Sri Lanka series, despite being the most in-form opener in the longest format of the game. While Dhawan has been in sparkling form in ODIs, was the leading run-scorer in the ICC Champions Trophy 2017, his last Test for India was in October 2016 against New Zealand.