VHT: Prabhsimran Singh stars with 88 as Punjab take charge against Madhya Pradesh

The second set of Vijay Hazare Trophy 2025–26 quarter-finals got underway today as Group C toppers Punjab faced a resilient Madhya Pradesh side led by IPL 2025-winning captain Rajat Patidar and current captain Venkatesh Iyer. Punjab entered the knockout stage with high momentum, relying on their aggressive opening duo of Prabhsimran Singh and Harnoor Singh to set the tone.

Prabhsimran Singh grabbed the spotlight with a composed 88 off 85 balls, including 10 fours and 2 sixes, at a strike rate of 107.50, before getting caught by Saransh Jain off the bowling of Kuldeep Sen. Opening the innings in the absence of Abhishek Sharma, who is preparing for the India vs New Zealand T20Is starting January 21, Prabhsimran’s fluent knock put Punjab firmly in control. Naman Dhir came out to bat next.

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Harnoor Singh stitched 51-run off 71 balls, including 7 fours and 1 six, laying a solid foundation for Punjab. Their smart and steady approach frustrated the Madhya Pradesh bowlers and underlined Prabhsimran’s leadership at the top.

Punjab is playing without Abhishek Sharma, who led most of the group games, while Delhi too missed Ayush Badoni, who received his maiden international call-up as a replacement for Washington Sundar in the IND vs NZ ODIs.

Playing XIs – Quarter-final (PUN vs MP):

Punjab: Prabhsimran Singh (w/c), Harnoor Singh, Anmolpreet Singh, Naman Dhir, Nehal Wadhera, Ramandeep Singh, Sanvir Singh, Krish Bhagat, Sukhdeep Bajwa, Mayank Markande, Gurnoor Brar

Madhya Pradesh: Yash Dubey, Himanshu Mantri (w), Venkatesh Iyer (c), Rajat Patidar, Akshat Raghuwanshi, Tripuresh Singh, Shubham Sharma, Saransh Jain, Kumar Kartikeya, Aryan Pandey, Kuldeep Sen