Mullanpur: Shashank Singh, the explosive batsman for the Punjab Kings, gave appreciation to Brian Lara, the renowned batsman from the West Indies, for the equilibrium he has managed to maintain between time and a forceful batting style despite playing in the middle order.

With his composed manner and fierce batting performance against Chennai Super Kings in the upcoming Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025, Shashank put on a spectacular show at Mullanpur. Shashank added the final touches by providing much-needed pyrotechnics with his 52* to help Punjab to a commanding 219/6 after Priyansh Arya scored his first T20 century.

The powerful 33-year-old hitter credited Lara with providing him with the much-needed confidence he needed when playing for Sunrisers Hyderabad three years before. Shashank’s lacklustre 69 runs at an average of 17.25 marred his time in Hyderabad, but Lara had straightforward counsel for him: don’t strive to be like anybody else; simply concentrate on timing the ball well.

“I’ll give Brian Lara credit for this. It is not always power-hitting, he informed me at number seven or eight when I played for SRH three years ago. During the post-match news conference, Shashank informed reporters, “When you talk about these numbers, you talk about Russell or Pollard.”

“He advised me to follow my instincts and game instead of trying to be like someone else, whether you bat at six or seven. I must consider the angles if I am not a power hitter. “So that’s what keeps me going,” he said.

Punjab’s 18-run win against Chennai, their third in the current tournament, was made possible by Shashank’s explosive batting performance. The quiet orchestrators of Punjab’s harmonic performances have been captain Shreyas Iyer and head coach Ricky Ponting. As captain of Punjab, Shreyas has flourished because he gives the team flexibility, infuses optimism into the group, and makes his message undeniably apparent.

“Shreyas has been very friendly. Everyone is welcome at his door. He has a lot of optimism. Regarding Shreyas and his leadership, Shashank said, “There are no ifs and buts in his language.”

After his lacklustre performance in the practice matches, Shashank praised Ponting for his encouragement, saying, “He (Ponting) always tells us to express ourselves.” I wasn’t timing the ball and didn’t play in the practice match.”

“Shreyas contacted me to let me know that he spoke with Ricky, sir. All I need to do is time the ball. He trusted in me and told me I was a good timer at the ball. At this level, all of these things are helpful. “The mental preparation is just as important as skill,” he said.

“If you want to qualify for the playoffs, you need to win home games,” the cunning hitter stated, underscoring the significance of accumulating wins on home ground as a critical component of presenting a case for the postseason. It didn’t go well at our house last year, but this year it’s been beautiful. We had a productive practice session; the extensive preparation before the IPL gave us a better understanding of the circumstances.