The evolution of Prabhsimran Singh: From powerplay basher to all-phase disruptor

It certainly takes something special to outdo Glenn Maxwell at his own game. On Sunday, Maxwell pulled off the switch-hit against Varun Chakravarthy, but it was Prabhsimran Singh's switch-hit off Sunil Narine that left our collective jaws on the floor.

Prabhsimran is usually an intent machine in the powerplay, but on an Eden Gardens pitch that was described as "very, very slow", he tempered his natural instincts and didn't overhit the ball. He was on 34 off 32 balls. He was up against one of the best bowlers in T20 cricket.

Narine darted a good-length delivery on middle and leg. It's the kind of ball that has tied batters down for years. Prabhsimran, though, played a sensational switch-hit and launched the ball over the cover boundary, well away from the reach of deep point. When Prabhsimran attempted another switch-hit, off a no-ball, he miscued it to cover, but the choice of the shot had already messed with Narine's line, length and plans.

The free-hit ball was on a hard length and wide of off, but Prabhsimran reached out and flat-batted it over Narine's head for six. He ran away with the momentum and finished with 83 off 49 balls.

Prabhsimran has always had explosive ability. Punjab Kings (PBKS) were so excited by his raw potential that they outlaid INR 4.8 crore for him at the IPL 2019 auction. At the time, Prabhsimran had not played a T20 match in senior representative cricket, but his ability to bash the ball interested the scouts. PBKS' management kept cycling through coaches and captains, but they held onto Prabhsimran. Six years on, he has come of age as a T20 batter.

He isn't just a hard hitter in the powerplay. He has evolved into a versatile disruptor of bowlers and fields. He now has the nous to sit back and accumulate when conditions are difficult for batting. He also knows when to pull the trigger.

When PBKS' net bowler, an offspinner, tried to attack Prabhsimran's pads during the nets at Chepauk on Tuesday, much like Narine had done at Eden Gardens, Prabhsimran swapped his hands on the bat handle and swatted him over cover. The crack off Prabhsimran's bat reverberated around the empty stands, taking some of Chennai Super Kings' net bowlers and reserve players by surprise. PBKS' team management, however, were probably not one bit surprised.

"We are all waiting for him to play it," James Hopes, PBKS' fast-bowling coach, said on the eve of their match against CSK in Chennai. "[Against KKR], we thought it was going to come a lot earlier than it actually did. I think the way they [KKR] were moving the field at that time, especially that guy at deep point and they were all waiting for it as well.

"Yes, he got his first one away and as soon as it happens, you are never going to put two guys out there [on the boundary]. So, there's a big part of the field that's left unprotected and Sunny is a world-class bowler. It's a different game that some of these boys play right now. No surprise from my end and my team's end because every training session we see him 50 times batting left-handed."

In PBKS' first match of the season, against Gujarat Titans (GT), Prabhsimran got twitchy after a slow start and went too hard at Kagiso Rabada, holing out to short third for five off eight balls. Fast-forward to Eden Gardens: another slow start for Prabhsimran, but this time he was prepared to absorb good balls on a tricky surface; once he got a measure of the conditions, he even lined up Narine.

Wasim Jaffer, who has worked with Prabhsimran at both PBKS and Punjab in domestic cricket, is also impressed with his charge's growth into a more rounded T20 batter.

"I think he must have worked out who are the bowlers that he can target," Jaffer said on ESPNcricinfo's TimeOut show. "He generally takes a few deliveries before he starts getting into that ultra-aggressive mode. But yeah, he's been a little smarter. Obviously, playing in this league for a few seasons also has helped. He's one of the integral parts of that Punjab batting. That responsibility has shown the way he's approached in games and that is a very good thing to see a different change in Prabhsimran.

"He's got shots all around the ground, whether square, whether straight. It's just him picking the right balls to hit. And once he gets that big boundary or big sixes, just for him to rotate the strike and take it to the next over."

In the lead-up to the IPL, Prabhsimran had cracked three successive hundreds in the 50-overs Vijay Hazare Trophy, including an unbeaten 150 against Mumbai. But not too many fans follow cricket outside of internationals and the IPL. To them, Prabhsimran was perhaps just another uncapped player until IPL 2025.

On Wednesday, he could be the top attraction among four uncapped openers who will be on show at Chepauk. If he continues to level up, he could well become a capped player by the next IPL. Only time will tell.