(Cricket news) The Punjab Kings (PBKS) made T20 cricket history in the TATA IPL 2024 when they defeated the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) by eight wickets at the Eden Gardens, Kolkata on Friday. The Knight Riders set a formidable total of 261 runs, batting first, prompting the Kings to pull off the highest run chase ever recorded in professional T20 cricket, a feat they achieved with eight deliveries to spare. Shashank Singh (68* runs) spoke exclusively to JioCinema on Match Centre Live about Shashank Singh batting, cricket smartness and dreams of playing for India.  

“Before this, the pre-camp and the domestic matches, I was batting to make sure I could take the game as deep as possible. I knew I’d be batting around 5-7 in the TATA IPL, so I have been planning on how to take my innings deep. Every batter has their strengths and weaknesses and I know what mine are. I know that Sunil Narine is a world-class bowler, so I knew there was no point in over-attacking him, he’s someone to hit singles, doubles, or nudge the ball towards the boundary. There were other bowlers to target, so my aim was to take it deep and pick my bowlers to target.”

Regarding Shashank Singh cricket smartness, Shashank Singh said – “If we talk about smartness, it’s coming with experience. Secondly, I spend a lot of time discussing cricket with my father. Last time when I got out too quickly, my dad told me that I should’ve played further back because it was a slow wicket. I have these conversations with my father at home and the world-class coaches who are here. I enjoy asking questions and understanding what they do. I think if I take clues from them, it’ll improve my cricket, so I keep trying to do that.”

Shashank Singh also spoke about his dreams of playing for India and said, “When I started playing cricket with my father, playing for India was one of his dreams. I have that dream still and I’ll continue having it in the future. My dad is emotional, so he wants me to play for India. But I’m a professional and I know that every game is important. We play Chennai next, it’s also an away game, so maybe we can enjoy a little tonight because it’s back to business tomorrow.”

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