CHENNAI: PRABHSIMRAN Singh is the kind of batter whose kamikaze style of hitting will attract bouquets and brickbats in equal measure. He has had the odd big innings (like the century against Delhi Capitals in 2023) but his instinct is to give the team rapid starts. So, an automatic byproduct of that is a low average but a healthy strike rate. It kind of reflects in the stats. He's one of the very few openers to have struck at over 150 since the beginning of the 2023 edition.
It kind of explains why Ricky Ponting wanted to retain the uncapped opener. With a batter like him, there was always potential to raise the ceiling as well as the floor at a fraction of the cost. This year, he has improved by leaps and bounds. He's not only averaging eight more runs per innings (32 as compared to 24) but he's doing it while scoring 17 more runs per every 100 balls faced (168.7 as opposed to 151.8).
In nine fixtures this season, he has amassed 292 runs, only 60 shy of his best outing of 358 runs (IPL 2023). Those runs have been spread out. Five scores of 30 or above in the first nine matches is reflective of that.
Speaking on a Star Sports press room on the eve of Wednesday's encounter at the MA Chidambaram Stadium, the 24-year-old said what he had to improve on. "I'm gaining experience," he said. With that, game awareness keeps increasing. When your position is cemented in the team, you start thinking about contributing for a win, be it run-making and keeping the wickets."
Like most modern openers going around in this format, he's actively encouraged to take risks. "That reward being a team win is what I take risks for," he said. "If it goes the other way, then I take accountability for it," he added.
Even if Ponting and he have exchanged lot of words over the last few months, he went back to the words the Australian great had for him post his century against the Ponting-coached Delhi in 2023. "After I scored a ton against Delhi in 2023, he had told me how I have a good future," he remembered. "I also remember the message he had sent after retaining me before the mega auction. That way I'm happy that the franchise has repaid its faith on me," he added.
When he was asked about Ponting's so-called 'golf-swing' approach to batting, the keeper said: "In my initial days of T20 cricket, I was particular on getting a good strike rate in the powerplay. But It's all about capitalising on the poor balls, trying to protect your wicket and contributing to wins," he added.
The new-look franchise, according to Prabhsimran, is a 'different beast.' With Shreyas Iyer leading the team, he believes that the team has the ingredients for a title winning side. "It's been seven years for me with Punjab Kings. So obviously, they have backed me a lot. And you can say that this year, we are playing very different cricket. And I feel that we are dominating most of the time," he added.
One of the reasons why they are dominating from the off is thanks to Prabhsimran's association with Priyansh Arya. He revealed the kind of conversations they have, on and off the field. "He tends to assure me that he'll take care of the pressure in few matches. We are well backed by the coach to play our game."
Sometime after the lights take full effect at Chepauk, Prabhsimran will walk out to bat with the express purpose of flaying the brand new ball to all parts. It's what he's paid to do. In 2025, he's excelling at it.
