Despite boasting of a strike rate of over 155 in the last two IPL seasons, Shashank Singh doesn’t want to be known as a power hitter. Rather, the Punjab Kings middle-order batter wants to become a trusted finisher. Not dwelling on his past performances, Shashank is focused on making an impact in the upcoming season, especially after a drop in his domestic performance owing to multiple injuries.First grabbing the headlines in 2024, Shashank posted 354 in 14 matches with a strike rate of 164.65 while making his debut for Punjab Kings. He continued his run in the next session with 350 from 17 matches with a strike rate of 153.51 and featuring three half-centuries. His consistency led the management to retain him for this season.“Last year was pretty important, as I didn’t want to be known as a one-year wonder. I managed to pull off a good show, but disheartened that my effort was not enough to help the team win their first title. Coming to this year, I was not able to play a good number of matches in the domestic circuit, as I faced injury issues most of the time. However, I am fit now before entering the IPL,” said Shashank.Punjab Kings are among the teams that have a similar batch of players as last year’s squad, and Shashank feels it is an advantage.“Finishing matches is something I want to do now. This year, we as a team really want to win the cup, and being a power-hitter is one of the normal things these days in cricket. Last year, there were a few incidents when I failed to finish some close matches. I don’t want to repeat the same this year,” said the 34-year-old, who will have the company of players like Prabhsimran Singh, Shreyas Iyer, Nehal Wadhera and Marcus Stoinis in the batting line-up.“There is nothing like failure in this team, as everyone comes with a vast experience. For instance, I was not scoring runs in the practice games and (coach) Ricky Ponting was very clear in defining my role in the team and how to approach that. This kind of guidance really helped me gain confidence. The next two months are very important for all of us, so our entire focus is on how to win the trophy,” he added.