IPL Rising Star: Prabhsimran Singh makes his chances count with improvement over the season for PBKS

It’s not often that Punjab Kings give a longer rope to a player or a support staff member if the results are not on display. The most number of captains and a new coach every 2-3 seasons is living proof of the same. However, the Kings stayed with the opening batter Prabhsimran Singh for the entirety of the 2024 edition of the IPL. After not being able to convert starts in a few matches, the right-handed batter finally showed glimpse of the Prabhsimran everyone has seen in the last couple of years including the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy.

Prabhsimran, who smashed a quality century in the last season of the IPL had a few 17-ball 25-odd knocks at the start of the tournament. Then came a lull where Prabhsimran just want to break the ball into two pieces and seemed like he was going for everything without any thought or planning. He has a 4, 10 and 0 in that three-innings period. However, Punjab Kings’ decision to stay with him bore fruit in the historic game against the Kolkata Knight Riders where they chased down 262 without much discomfort.

Prabhsimran’s 20-ball 54 gave the Punjab Kings a push they needed at the start before Jonny Bairstow did what he does. That innings ensured that he played a few more games before finishing on a high in the absence of probably all the overseas players, except Rilee Rossouw. PBKS opted to bat against the Sunrisers and both him and Atahrva Taide played with intent and took calculative risks.

Prabhsimran scored his second fifty of the tournament and it came at a very good rate. This was probably the difference between Prabhsimran last year and this year. The strike rate has gone up, even though marginally (from 150 to 156) but the volume of runs has come down. However, there are enough signs that in the next couple of seasons, the 23-year-old might come of age.