Punjab Kings (PBKS) opener Prabhsimran Singh is having his best Indian Premier League (IPL) season. While the Shreyas Iyer-led side looks like they will qualify for playoffs after a decade, Prabhsimran has justified head coach Ricky Ponting's decision to retain him alongside Shashank Singh as an uncapped player. While Prabhsimran is delivering with the bat, his father, Sardar Surjit Singh is on dialysis as his kidneys are failing.
"He is going through dialysis thrice a week. As an elder brother I can't see the pain he is enduring. I have to step out of the house when the doctors come home for the dialysis. Not a day has gone by that I have not prayed that it should not be my younger brother," said Satwinderpal Singh, elder brother of Sardar Surjit Singh while speaking to TOI.
Satwinder, who has trained Prabhsimran alongside his own sons Anmolpreet Singh and Tejpreet Singh, said that the only time Surjit smiles is when the PBKS opener scores. He is not sure for how long Prabhsimran's father will survive.
"Before every Punjab Kings match, I carry him to the living room. We watch the match together, and every time the camera is on Simmu, he smiles. If Simmu scores, he keeps on smiling and laughing. In those moments, he forgets the pain he is in. If Simmu plays a rash shot, he shouts, 'khotte aaram naal khel (play sensibly).'" said Satwinder.
Prabhsimran made a promise to his brother Anmolpreet before the season that he will score a couple of centuries. The opener is yet to fulfill the promise but came close to the three figures twice in the last three games. Satwinder also revealed that Surjit scolded his son for missing out on century.
"Simmu video called on Monday morning to take an update about Surjit. And my brother gave him back by saying why he threw away his wicket after getting so close to the hundred. While shouting at Simmu, he gasps for breath. Every time I have to intervene and tell him to praise the kid, because he is playing so well," Satwinder added.
Against Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) in Dharamsala, Prabhsimran scored 91 runs from 48 balls, including six fours and seven sixes. He lost his wicket to spinner Digvesh Rathi in the penultimate over and missed out on the opportunity to score a century. Earlier, he scored 83 runs from 49 balls against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR).
Ponting's challenge to PBKS openers
After the match, Ponting revealed that he challenged both openers (including Priyansh Arya) in the team meeting to score a century.
"Yeah, look, he's been brilliant, hasn't he? You know, him and Priyansh have got us off to some great starts in the tournament. They both, you know, before today had both made 350 runs each for the tournament. I sort of challenged both of the openers in the team meeting today for one of them to go on and get a hundred in this match," Ponting said in the post-match press conference.
"And unfortunately, Prabh felt just a little bit short of that. But look, all we've done with our batting group, we've just given some really clear direction of the way that we want them to play, to understand how important, you know, top-order partnerships are in this competition. And we know that if Priyansh and Prabh get going together, that they can be ultra-destructive," he added.
Prabhsimran, the leading run-scorer for PBKS in IPL 2025
So far, Prabhsimran has scored 437 runs from 11 innings at an average of 39.72, including four half-centuries. His strike rate is 170.33. He is the leading run-scorer for PBKS this season. He is closely followed by skipper Iyer who has 405 runs from 11 innings.