The auction for the twelfth edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) in 2019 took place in Jaipur on Tuesday and it was evident that the youngsters were preferred by most of the verdict was clearly in favor of the youngsters. One of the names that came to the top in this year’s auction is Punjab’s Prabhsimran Singh who bagged a deal of ₹4.8 crore for Kings XI Punjab.
Prabhsimran is just 18-year old and has shown his talent with the bat despite getting ignored for the Under-19 team for a long time. He got a chance to represent India in the U-19 Asia Cup in Bangladesh this year and led the side for a few games, including the final, Singh hit two brisk fifties in the tournament including a 37-ball 65 in the title clash against Sri Lanka that India won.
When asked about his cricketing icons, Prabhsimran said, “I was picked for the U19 Asia Cup and scored an 80 and 65 not out in a couple of matches. I consider (Virender) Sehwag and (MS) Dhoni as my idols and I like to bat aggressively like them. When it comes to wicketkeeping, the inspirations are Dhoni and Adam Gilchrist.”
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Kiran More was one of the mentors of Singh as he was picked for a glovesmen’s camp at the National Cricket Academy in Bengaluru earlier this year by More. He was one of the only five Under-19 keepers who was picked for the camp. More himself was pleasantly surprised by Singh’s achievement at the auction.
Interestingly, Prabhsimran doesn’t have any first-class or T20 experience and didn’t even know that his name was shortlisted for the auction. He was recently with the India Emerging team in the Asia Cup in Sri Lanka and played well in the tournament.
Brrrrrrruuuaaaaaa!
Welcome to the squad, Prabhsimran!#KXIP #LivePunjabiPlayPunjabi #SaddaSquad #IPLAuction pic.twitter.com/YT50kIqZEU— Punjab Kings (@PunjabKingsIPL) December 18, 2018
Singh was over the moon after knowing that he was one of the most sought players in the auction. He revealed, “My realistic aim was to make the India Under-19 team, so I didn’t really think about the IPL. I don’t know how to react now, I’m not able to believe teams really bid so much for me. After a certain stage, I was like ‘yaar (man), I don’t even know how many zeroes are there!”
In September, he was called for the KXIP trials and were given two scenarios – a chase of 100 in 10 overs, and another needing 75 off eight overs. Prabhsimran responded with two half-centuries in both the cases of 19 and 29 balls respectively and that boosted his chance of playing in the IPL. Speaking about the same he said, “At that time, I thought I’ve done my best, if I’m picked, good, if I’m not picked I’ll work harder.”
