Log4j problems are usually thrown because of missing dependencies. Can you please re-download all Apache-POI jars, place them along with Selenium dependencies and try again?
Also, I tweaked the code a bit. Check of this works for you. It did for me.
package com.test.utitlity;
import java.io.IOException;
import org.apache.poi.xssf.usermodel.XSSFCell;
import org.apache.poi.xssf.usermodel.XSSFRow;
import org.apache.poi.xssf.usermodel.XSSFSheet;
import org.apache.poi.xssf.usermodel.XSSFWorkbook;
public class readExcel extends globalVariables {
/**
* @param args
* @throws IOException
*/
public static void readExcel(int rowcounter) throws IOException{
XSSFWorkbook srcBook = new XSSFWorkbook("./prop.xlsx");
XSSFSheet sourceSheet = srcBook.getSheetAt(0);
int rownum=rowcounter;
XSSFRow sourceRow = sourceSheet.getRow(rownum);
XSSFCell cell1=sourceRow.getCell(0);
XSSFCell cell2=sourceRow.getCell(1);
XSSFCell cell3=sourceRow.getCell(2);
System.out.println(cell1);
System.out.println(cell2);
System.out.println(cell3);
}
}