Punjab Kings assistant coach Brad Haddin praises Prabhsimran Singh and says he could be a very “dangerous” player once he finds consistency.
Brad Haddin Praises Prabhsimran Singh
Prabhsimran scored 23 runs in the first match of the IPL 2023 while scoring an impressive 34 balls 60 runs. But he failed to maintain his consistency in the following matches, where Prabhsimran was dismissed for back-to-back ducks.
“We’ve seen against Rajasthan (Royals) he’s extremely talented. When he gets in, he’s got a lot of power and plays a lot of shots around the field and he can be a match-winner,” Haddin said after his team’s six-wicket loss to Gujarat Titans on Thursday.
“So it’s just about him now understanding his tempo and his role. We’re going to back him into playing a style of game that we need in the first six overs and it’s going to be a high-risk game. So you’re going to see some good and bad performances.”
Asked if Punjab have enough options at the top of the order in case Prabhsimran continues to misfire, Haddin said: “Yeah, we’ve got a lot of options in our squad, but at the moment he’s role is safe up there at the top, to play really proactive game.
“We’ve seen in this tournament if you give the guys a couple of extra games that they normally come good, they’re extremely talented players and he plays in a high-pressure role, there in the first six overs, take the game on so we’re comfortable where he’s at.
“He would obviously like some more runs but you know the upside when he does get things right and find some consistency he would be a very dangerous player for some time.”
Punjab was once again done in by their below-par batting as they could manage a modest 153 for 8 after being asked to take the first strike. The bowlers took the game deep but eventually, Gujarat overhauled the target with one ball to spare.
“I think today it was our batting, we probably left 20 to 30 runs out there in the end and that probably was the difference in the result.
“In our last game, I thought Hyderabad bowled well and this time it was probably our fault with the bat not capitalizing on a few guys that they got in and probably been a little bit more proactive to find those 20 and 30 runs.”
Asked if the strike rate of the batters is an issue, Haddin said: “Yeah, obviously it is a huge part of this game. We’ve seen last game guys build momentum to the back end and you got to recognise different stages when to take the game on when to take your medicine and get off strike and work the ones and twos and then the boundaries normally followed from there.”
Star all-rounder Liam Livingstone joined the team on Thursday after arriving from England on Monday.
Asked for an update on him, Haddin said: “He just got off a flight, for the next couple of days, we will see where he’s at. He’s just come back from a long-term injury so we just had an opportunity to put some eyes on him over the last 24 hours. We’ll know a lot more coming in the next game.” Punjab will face Lucknow Super Giants on Saturday.
Prabhsimran Singh scored 83 runs at a strike rate of 169.39 in the 4 matches he played so far in the ongoing IPL 2023.
