He is a right-handed batsman and a right-arm medium-pace bowler who plays for Gujarat. Panchal made his first cricketing appearance for the Under-15s in the 2003-2004 Polly Umrigar Trophy, in which he played for two seasons. He stepped up to the Under-17s team, for whom, in his last fixture of the 2005-2006 Vijay Merchant Trophy, he scored a century.
The following season, he played in both the limited overs competition and the three-day game.
While he started the 2007-2008 season with the Under-19s, he made his List A debut for the senior team in the second half of the season, against Maharashtra in February 2008.