Just scroll through the list of the top run-getters for the 2025 IPL season and you will notice an interesting point: both Prabhsimran Singh and Priyansh Arya have scored the same number of runs – 346. But their contribution to Punjab Kings’ resurgence goes beyond just the runs they have aggregated. The two uncapped players have consistently provided their side with quick starts.
The twosome have amassed 404 runs together, which puts them in second place on the list of most runs compiled by opening pairs in this year’s IPL. More significantly, those runs have come at a very impressive run rate of around 10.6 runs per over. In other words, the openers have been able to strike a balance between partnerships of substance and maintaining a good scoring rate.
In the just-concluded Punjab Kings–Chennai Super Kings game, they continued to provide a solid foundation for the side. On a rather tricky surface, the duo managed 44 runs in 4.4 overs. Another key point to add here is that Prabhsimran kept his concentration levels up after Arya’s dismissal. It was his stand of 72 with Shreyas Iyer, the PBKS skipper, that put his side on course for victory.
The noteworthy performances of Prabhsimran during this season also serve as a subset of the main point. The right-hand batter had never averaged more than 26 over an IPL season. In fact, over the first four years of the tournament, Prabhsimran accrued a mere 64 runs.
Granted, he played only six matches during that period, but he could never cement his place. That was followed by a couple of seasons where he got a long run in the side, but he couldn’t match up to PBKS’ expectations. Under Ricky Ponting’s tutelage, Prabhsimran seems to have finally understood how to shift gears and play according to the situation of the game. He was also in fine form in domestic cricket, accumulating 498 and 207 runs for Punjab in the Vijay Hazare and Syed Mushtaq Ali tournaments respectively.
Prabhsimran said this about his opening partnership with Arya to the host broadcaster: “Both of us (himself and Priyansh Arya) have been batting well,” he noted. “The wicket was a bit slow today, so we decided to take our time.
“When he got out, it became my responsibility to carry it forward. We were told in the camps before the season that we would be opening the batting together. We opened the batting in the practice matches as well and have bonded well. I wasn’t too concerned about the asking rate.”
Shreyas Iyer’s astute captaincy, his form with the bat in hand, and Yuzvendra Chahal’s resurgence have been instrumental in propelling PBKS to second place in the points table. Nestled between those individual brilliances is the opening duo’s quick-fire starts in the Powerplay, which in turn have eased the pressure on the middle order.
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