Shashank Singh: Should Team India use PBKS star's death-overs hitting skills?

Bengaluru (Karnataka) [India], September 16 (ANI): Punjab Kings star batter Shashank Singh highlighted the key qualities of a finisher, emphasising the need to be dynamic, innovative, and adept at handling pressure, drawing inspiration from legends like MS Dhoni, Hardik Pandya, and Yuvraj Singh.

As per ESPNcrciinfo, since IPL 2024, Shashank has scored 377 runs in death overs across 20 innings, averaging 53.85 at a strike rate of 201.60. With 27 fours and 25 sixes in 187 balls, he’s been dismissed just seven times, outpacing prominent finishers like Hardik Pandya, Rinku Singh, and Shivam Dube.

Singh, an aggressive middle-order batter for Punjab Kings, has experience playing for multiple IPL teams, including Delhi Daredevils (2017), Rajasthan Royals (2019), and Sunrisers Hyderabad (2022). In 33 IPL innings, he’s scored 773 runs at an average of 40.68, with a best of 68* and five half-centuries, showcasing his finishing skills.

Singh had a breakout season in IPL 2025, scoring 350 runs in 14 innings at a strike rate of 153.50, propelling Punjab Kings to the final. He played a key role, highlighted by an unbeaten 61 in the final against RCB.

“A finisher’s role has to be dynamic. He needs to adapt to the situation very well. Needs to be very smart, the way he handles the pressure at that time. I look at players like, what, Mahi bhai is someone who has done this role so many innings for India, and Hardik Pandya is doing the same. Yuvi Pazi, the way he handled the pressure. I mean, the World Cup we won, I give great credit to him, the way he handled that pressure,” Shashank added.

With a total of 242 runs, at an average of 60.50, a strike rate of 192.06, 18 fours and 14 sixes in 126 balls across 11 innings, he had the highest runs in death overs during IPL 2025 (overs 16-20). He only played 25 dots. He was dismissed four times.

At number two was Mumbai Indian’s Naman Dhir, with 190 runs in 11 innings at an average of 27.14, strike rate of 195.87, with 19 fours and 10 sixes in 97 balls and just 24 dots. He was dismissed four times.

He came into the limelight after hitting an unbeaten 29-ball 61 for the Punjab Kings against the Gujarat Titans in IPL 2024. Being “not out” at the end of an innings is the true mark of a finisher, and no one in IPL 2025 managed this more often than Singh. He was not out in 7 of the 14 innings he played in. (ANI)

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