Punjab Kings opener Prabhsimran Singh is showing “greater maturity” this IPL season and repaying the faith shown in him by the team management, believes their spin bowling coach Sunil Joshi. Starting off cautiously, the seasoned Punjab batter exploded in the latter half of his innings to top-score with a 49-ball 83, guiding them to 201 for four against Kolkata Knight Riders in Kolkata on Saturday. Prabhsimran, who was on 34 off 32 balls at one stage, accelerated brilliantly to score 49 runs in his next 17 deliveries.
“I think it’s all about confidence. In the pre-season, how much volume he adds to his batting is very important. Of course, positive environment with (head coach) Ricky (Ponting) and the batting coaching staff has really done well,” Joshi said after rain washed out their match with KKR stranded at 7/0 after one over.
Prabhsimran, who has been part of the side since his IPL debut in 2019, was among the players retained by PBKS ahead of the mega auction.
“He has been consistently performing in white-ball format as well. Last year also, he has shown consistency and the numbers show that. But this year, he has been more matured. He was part of an emerging team as well. So, that confidence also added to him,” Joshi said.
While Prabhsimran rediscovered his touch, youngster Priyansh Arya continued to impress, hammering a 35-ball 69 as the duo stitched a commanding 120-run stand for the opening wicket.
Arya, who made headlines with a century against Chennai Super Kings, has been one of PBKS’ biggest finds this season, playing the early aggressor in the entertaining partnership.
“They are exciting players. Prabhsimran is a seasoned campaigner. He is more experienced. He has come up with successfully good plans for today. So, it’s a long way ahead for both of them,” Joshi said.
The openers’ strategy to start cautiously and then shift gears aggressively, coupled with clear communication, was crucial, Joshi pointed out.
“I think the credit should be given to both of them, they batted according to the pitch conditions, took calculated runs and had very positive approaches.
“Of course, at this level, it’s very simple key words — situation, conditions, pitch conditions, how it behaves and according to that you can plan your shots. So, that was a good communication from the coaching staff,” he said.
“The communication is very clear from captain and coach, head coach and coaching staff also. That’s why we invest in the players.” The way the PBKS openers tackled KKR’s spin duo of Sunil Narine and Varun Chakravarthy was a standout feature.
Taking calculated risks, they managed to dominate without losing wickets, as PBKS amassed 72 runs between overs 10 and 15.
“I think it’s a learning curve for batsmen to assess both the bowlers in front of them. And it’s always difficult when you are defending or when you are bowling first.
“So, obviously, your game plan and your dynamics changes when you are bowling first and when you are bowling second and our batsmen adapted to conditions very well,” Joshi said.
On the washout Joshi said, “I think we can’t go against the nature. We have to accept it. If the game would have been there, it would have been a good contest.
“There was an opportunity for two points, but yes, we have to accept that we got one. We missed one.” Meanwhile, KKR’s young pacer Vaibhav Arora, who has impressed with the new ball this season, said the team was content with sharing points.
“Unfortunately match didn’t happen, can’t say if we are happy or sad. But it’s better to settle for one point than get nothing. It’s a bonus point for us so we have to take it positively and you never know we qualify from this one point,” Arora said.
KKR have struggled with their batting this season and now find themselves in the bottom half of the table, needing to win all their remaining five matches to stay in contention for the playoffs.
“Bowling we have been doing well, but batting has not clicked. We will try to rectify in next matches,” Arora added.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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