‘Back in 2010, there was a young MS Dhoni…’: Hayden distinguishes ‘fearless’ glimpses of CSK legend in Prabhsimran Singh

Punjab Kings' young swashbuckling opener Prabhsimran Singh got massive praise from Australian batting great Matthew Hayden. The 24-year-old has shown good consistency this season with the bat, which was missing in the past. He is looking to repay the franchise's faith by retaining him ahead of the auction.

It's not often that a franchise retains an uncapped player, but PBKS backed Prabhsimran to get the job done at the top of the order.

The 24-year-old played a marvellous knock of 91 runs from just 48 balls at a staggering strike rate of 189.58 against LSG on Sunday night. His knock was laced with seven maximums and six boundaries in his innings.

Hayden, who spent three years at CSK in IPL, recalled MS Dhoni's old attributes of smashing sixes on will, which he feels Prabhsimran has the same ability.

"He has got great power. Back in 2010, there was a young MS Dhoni who was launching balls in the last over of the day. Prabhsimran has got similar sort of attributes. He has wonderful bat speed, a solid base. He is not that tall, so he can really manoeuvre the ball into the gaps and he is fearless," Hayden said on Star Sports at the mid-innings break.

The Aussie legend further talked about how Prabhsimran forced the LSG bowlers to commit errors while bowling.

"You can see by the way he took on the deliveries against LSG. He was in complete control. He has forced the bowlers to make mistakes,"Hayden added.

Prabhsimran powers PBKS to massive win

Riding on Prabh's knock, Punjab posted a mammoth 236/5 after being asked to bat first in Dharamsala. A quick cameo of 30 in 14 balls (one four and four sixes) by Josh Inglis and 78-run third wicket stand between Prabhsimran and skipper Shreyas Iyer (45 in 25 balls, with five fours and two sixes) and a 54-run fifth wicket stand between Prabhsimran and Shashank Singh (33* in 15 balls, with four boundaries and a six) took PBKS to 236/5 in their 20 overs which turned out to be too much for LSG who ended up scoring 199/7.

After the match, he was elated with himself for playing a pivotal role in his team getting the two crucial points in the playoffs race.

“It is a very good knock and 2 points matters to us a lot and happy that it came in a winning cause. I was set when I was dropped, I wanted to capitalise on the drop. Failed to read the wicket initially, it took a little time and then decided we need to make 200. Whatever the situation demands, someone from our batting unit has been stepping up every game and good that we are winning too,” Prabhsimran said in the post-match presentation after being named Player of the Match.