New Delhi: Punjab Kings captain on Thursday evening Shreyas Iyer Appreciated Prabhasmaran Singh for “raising his bar”. The 26-year-old lit up the Wankhede Stadium with his brilliant strokeplay, scoring an unbeaten 80 off 39 balls against Mumbai Indians to take the Punjab Kings home. With this win, Punjab Kings topped the IPL 2026 points table.Between the six-hitting prowess of teenage sensation Vibhu Suryavanshi and Priyansh Arya, who is also Prabhasmaran’s opening partner, the Patiala-born batsman has been quietly doing his job — one knock at a time. Prabhasmaran was instrumental in Punjab Kings reaching the final last season, scoring 549 runs at a strike rate of 160.53.“I think he has definitely raised the bar, looking at last season where he was going into the powerplay, just swinging wildly. Despite scoring runs, he was giving us a great start. But this time I think he has the maturity to finish the game,” said Iyer in his post-match presentation.“And it’s great to see young guys finishing games, taking responsibility and saying, OK, I’m going to win the match for the team. So the exceptional player, the talent and besides, I think the more matches he’s getting, he’s actually maturing (more),” he added.The 25-year-old has been a part of Punjab Kings, previously Kings XI Punjab, since 2019, when the Mohali-based franchise spent Rs 4.8 crore on the youngster.In the early years, the young man did not get many opportunities. He played just nine games in the first six years. He started playing regularly from IPL 2023. In IPL 2023 and 2024, he scored 358 and 334 runs respectively, but consistency was an issue.Ahead of IPL 2025, Ricky Ponting Called Prabhasmaran Singh, trusted him, and assigned him a task.Prabhasmaran’s coach Kamalpreet Sindhu told TimesofIndia.com, “The task was to work on his cut and pull shots. Our academy hours are from 3:30 PM, but Prabhasmaran used to come at 1:30 PM, and during those six weeks before the IPL, he worked very hard on his batting.”Last season’s performances helped him get selected for the India A team to face Australia A in September. He seized the opportunity by scoring 102 off 68 balls in the third unofficial ODI, helping India A win the series 2–1.Ahead of IPL 2026, Ponting gave him another task, this time to avoid throwing his wicket in the 30s and 40s.“That was his problem. He used to hit quick cameos and then get out. Ponting advised him that since he was good against spin, he could take an over or two after the powerplay. He told him that if he stayed till the 16th or 17th over, his strike rate would not go down. It was all about trust,” said Kamalpreet Sindhu.In five matches this season, the 26-year-old has scored 211 runs at a strike rate of 173, including two half-centuries. He currently sits in the top five run scorers.A rare talentFrom a young age, Prabhasmaran was known as a hard-hitting batsman in Punjab. The Patiala-born was so talented that during an Under-14 match at the Dhru Pandu Stadium, after he hit two sixes, the late D. P Azad, the then chairman of the coaching committee of the Punjab Cricket Association, remarked that he was too good for the Under-14s and did not allow him to continue in the tournament.“In 2012, Azad sahib selected 20 U-14s from six districts. I was the coach of Patiala U-14. The likes of Anmol Preet Singh, Prabhasmaran Singh and Mayank Markande were in Patiala U-14, while Shibman Gul and Nihal Vadhira were in Mohali and Ludhiana respectively.“In a match at Dhru Pandu Stadium, Prabhasmaran hit eight sixes in the first three overs. Azad Sir refused to believe that the kid was only 11 or 12. After two games, he said Prabhasmaran was too good for that level and the other kids should not be intimidated,” said Kamalpreet Sindhu.I still remember DP Azad’s words: ‘Kamal, take care of this child, he is special.’ Kamalpreet Sindhu, who runs the Cricket Hub Academy, said he had natural strength, strong wrists and hit the ball with immense power.Kamal said there were a few moments that changed Prabhasmaran as a person. The former was being overlooked for the 2018 U-19 World Cup, which India won under Prithvi Shaw. A dejected Prabhasmaran expressed his disappointment by scoring 298 in the Punjab Inter-District U-23 tournament. He hit 29 fours and 13 sixes during his 301-ball stay.The knock helped him catch the attention of IPL scouts, and Punjab Kings shelled out Rs 4.8 crore on the youngster.“DP Azad sir gave us Kapil Dev. One look at Prabhasmaran was enough for him to know that the boy was special. Then Ponting, in the last 16 months, took his cricket to the next level,” Sindhu said.The second defining moment was when Ponting became the head coach of the Punjab Kings. After the win against MI, the former Australia captain said on JioHotstar, “When players feel supported, like Prabhasmaran or Shashank (Singh), they respond with performances, and that’s the result in the end.”More than a decade ago, DP Azad saw something special in the right-hander that years later the former Australian captain has taken to a different level.Another consecutive season at the top will keep Prabhasmaran Singh in contention for an India call-up. With the Men in Blue set to play 40-plus T20Is before the 2028 Summer Olympics, Prabhasmaran will challenge the likes of Vibhu Suryavanshi and Priyansh Arya in the race as, along with his ability to hit sixes, he has also matured as a cricketer.
