Shashank Singh: 'I'll tell you we are at the top of the world on June 3'

"Finishing in top two is half-job done. The full job will be done on the 3rd of June, I guess. When late at night, at 12 o'clock, we will have a press conference. That will be the time I'll tell you that 'yes, we are at the top of the world'."

Belief in your abilities can do fascinating things. Look at Punjab Kings (PBKS), who, if Shashank Singh is to be believed, have completed a top-two finish on the IPL 2025 points table riding on a wave of self-belief (some other factors helped, of course). And now, that same belief, is allowing Shashank to say those words above. It might sound like he - and PBKS - have gotten a bit ahead of themselves - they are one of three teams from the original lot of eight to have not won a title to date, after all - but that's not the case. It's just self-belief, and trusting the culture the firm of Ricky Ponting and Shreyas Iyer have created around the players.

"It feels surreal, to be very honest. It feels really good, really satisfying," Shashank said at the press conference after PBKS beat Mumbai Indians (MI) on Monday night to make sure they will play Qualifier 1 and get an extra shot at qualifying for the final should they need it. "The best thing is [that] we manifested as a team - as a team, not individually me, but as a team. When the auctions were done, we had a group on WhatsApp and we had conversations. So we manifested that this year we will win the title. Our first aim was to finish in the top two and obviously we have passed that hurdle.

"But manifesting is one thing, believing is [another]. So we worked hard. The credit goes to the management, the support staff, literally every single individual. Not only players and coaching staff, but everyone who is associated with us. We had four-five camps before the IPL, and you can see the results. We are in top two, and it's not easy in a league like IPL to finish in top two."

Because it's PBKS, and not serial winners like MI or Chennai Super Kings (CSK) or Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), the question that came up a little while later was somewhat justified: Are you guys feeling on top of the world?

"Not at the top of the world [yet]. What we have believed is yet to come. So this is something where we really enjoy each other's success. If we had not qualified in the top two, we would have still been happy we have qualified. But again, it's the half-job done. What Shreyas said in the last meeting [was] qualification is half-job done," Shashank said, before saying all that you read at the top - words that might come back to bite him, but the way PBKS have gone in IPL 2025, with a batting core almost entirely of uncapped Indians, who can question that confidence? Or belief?

"Shreyas is a very dear friend. I know him for the past ten-15 years. Playing under him, he being the captain, is one of the best things to have happened to me, to be very honest," Shashank said when asked about the team culture. "The way he gives freedom to everyone - not only me, but everyone, 25 of them, plus support staff, plus the people who are in the content team, media team, logistics, everyone - is something very appreciable about him.

"And the way he has developed a culture in the Punjab Kings side - obviously we love each other, we care for each other; that was the main motto of Ricky sir and Shreyas [on] day one that we had the meeting, that we need to maintain a culture, we need to care for each other, and obviously result will take care of itself.

"[Ponting] has changed the team culture, he has changed our mindset, changed our belief. So all those things, the credit has to go to him, because obviously, he is the one who changed our perspective towards the game. Day one he told us, he and Shreyas told us, [that] they will treat Yuzi Chahal, maybe our most senior player, and our bus driver the same. They have maintained this. This says a lot about the team."

They will now lose the services of Marco Jansen, one of six players and the only overseas player to have played every game for PBKS this season - Shashank is one of the others - because of the World Test Championship (WTC) final. It must be a worry, but Shashank wasn't letting on.

"This team, when you see all 14 league games we have played, every match [there] is a new face, there is a new hero," he said. "Some days Shreyas has done well, today Josh [Inglis] and Priyansh [Arya], someday Prabh [Prabhsimran Singh], someday Arsh [Arshdeep Singh]. So it's a combined team effort.

"When you finish in the top two, the most important thing is that there is no one or two heroes, you have 11-12 heroes, or six-seven heroes. So obviously our team has had six-seven heroes. And hopefully in the final we can all come together and win the title."