Prabhsimran Singh, opening the batting for PBKS this season, has scored 211 runs in four innings, with knocks of 37, 43, 51 and an unbeaten 80, at a strike rate of 172.95. | Photo Credit: EMMANUAL YOGINI

Prabhsimran Singh credited Yuvraj Singh after his unbeaten 80 off 39 powered Punjab Kings to a seven-wicket win over Mumbai Indians, chasing down 196 with 21 balls to spare.

“In the off-season, I worked a lot with Yuvi paaji. Whenever I talk to him, he says you have a lot of time, and you can play long,” Prabhsimran said after Punjab Kings sealed its fourth win of the competition.

The Punjab opener, still just 25 and already in his eighth season with the franchise, has moulded his game around this piece of advice from the former India international and established himself as a linchpin in this Punjab Kings unit, which looks likelier than ever to end its title drought.

Since the start of last season, Prabhsimran has faced 464 deliveries in the IPL, the seventh-most in the league. All six players above him in the list have played international cricket; two of them lead their national sides (Mitchell Marsh and Suryakumar Yadav), and one of them is Virat Kohli. Prabhsimran’s scoring rate of 163 is better than that of six of these batters.

Prolonged stays at the crease have helped Prabhsimran accumulate more. Last season, he racked up 549 runs at a strike rate of 160, returning the faith put in him by Punjab Kings, which retained him ahead of the mega auction.

Coach Ricky Ponting and captain Shreyas Iyer’s enduring trust in him, along with clarity about his role at the top, has made the task easier for Prabhsimran.

“Earlier, I used to get out in the 30s or 40s, so now I look to play longer innings. And, as we discuss in team meetings, mainly, it doesn’t matter to us whether we go for the Orange Cap or the Purple Cap; the goal is to create enough impact so that you can easily win matches for your team.

“Obviously, when I first arrived, I didn’t get many opportunities to play. But over the last three to four years, I’ve been getting chances. Sometimes things go well, sometimes they don’t. I just want to thank Punjab Kings. If they have backed me, then it is my duty to pay them back,” Prabhsimran said.

The assurance brought by his opening partner, Priyansh Arya, has gone a long way in helping Prabhsimran settle better at the top. Before Priyansh was slotted there, Prabhsimran shared the opening-wicket stand with seven batters over four seasons. Of these, the longest a batter persisted in the role was Shikhar Dhawan, who played 12 innings.

Since the onus of laying the foundation has fallen on Priyansh and Prabhsimran, Punjab Kings has scored at a run rate of 10.37. Only Rajasthan Royals’ Yashasvi Jaiswal and Vaibhav Suryavanshi, and Sunrisers Hyderabad’s Travis Head and Abhishek Sharma, have operated at a higher tempo.

Embracing the high-octane nature of modern T20 is another reason Prabhsimran has emerged as a match-winner. Since 2025, the right-handed batter from Patiala has scored 366 runs in successful run chases, bettered only by Iyer and Kohli.

This season, Punjab has chased down totals in excess of 190 three times, and Prabhsimran has scored fifties in two of those games. In the one where he did not, he scored 43. He leads the side’s run-scoring charts after five games and has never averaged better in his IPL career (70.33).

“Earlier, targets of 180 or 170 used to be defended. Now, it has moved to 200-plus. To score 200-plus, I feel you have to come in and play with an attacking approach right from the PowerPlay. You also get clarity from the team, the coach, and the captain to go all out and play freely; if you have to hit, then you have to go for it. Cricket has definitely become faster, so scoring even 250 is not that difficult anymore,” Prabhsimran said.

On the merit of his IPL exploits over the past year, Prabhsimran has made himself one of the most keenly followed players in India. His call-up to the India A side to face Australia A last September attests to the fact that even the selectors count him among the best of the rest.

He lapped up the opportunity and notched up a century in the third unofficial One-Dayer as India A overhauled a 300-plus total.

“When you get into the India A setup, you feel that your main goal — to play for the senior Indian team, to represent the country for a long time — is one step closer. You feel like, ‘Yes, I am in India A now, and if I do well, maybe I will get a chance soon.’ So, that confidence stays inside you, knowing that if you do well, the ultimate goal of playing for the senior India team is not too far away,” Prabhsimran said.

However, in a league where batting benchmarks keep rising, Prabhsimran is yet to pass his toughest test. Last season, he misfired in three of Punjab Kings’ most crucial games, including the playoffs and the final.

Despite his propensity to launch early offensives, he still falls short of the standards set by Abhishek, Phil Salt, and Suryavanshi.

“I definitely have to do more. The competition is very high, so I have to perform well. But if you take all these things in the spirit of healthy competition, I feel you will only grow positively. As long as I am playing, I will continue this way. With every failure, you realise what you have done is not enough and that you need to do more,” Prabhsimran said.

As he does every time in the middle, Prabhsimran is backing himself to play the long game.

Published on Apr 17, 2026