Jonny Bairstow got the hundred and was surely a big factor in Punjab Kings' record chase at Eden Gardens on Friday. But that it seemed that Punjab flew to the target despite chasing a daunting 261/6 set by Kolkata Knight Riders, was much because of Shashank Singh.

One of the stars of this IPL, Shashank has been a pure show of power and stroke-making as he has dispatched even quality bowlers with disdain. His is no blind slogging, he picks the bowlers intelligently and goes after them.

When Shashank came to the crease on Friday, Punjab still needed 84 runs in 7.3 overs to fashion an impossible-looking win. Bairstow was then batting at the other end on 93 off 39 balls.

But it was new man Shashank, not the set Bairstow, who took over the responsibility of forcing the pace of the chase. Shashank knocked off 68 not out off 28 balls with two fours and as many as eight sixes. In the same period, Bairstow added just 15 off nine balls to the total.

But it's not a flash-in-the-pan innings from Shashank, He has been working hard to prepare himself for a long time.

“Before this, in the pre-camp and in 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 IPL, so I have been planning on how to take my innings deep,” Shashank said on JioCinema.

That his innings was well-planned was evident from the fact that he left alone spinner Sunil Narine while focusing on other Knight Riders bowlers to collect his runs.

“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,” he said.

In seven balls from Narine, Shashank scored just three runs.

The 32-year-old also credited his father for helping him with guidance.

“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," he said.