There was a time last year, after the player auction for Indian Premier League 2023, when Shashank Singh contemplated quitting the sport. He had been picked by Delhi Daredevils and Rajasthan Royals in the past but never got a chance in the playing XI. In 2022, for Sunrisers Hyderabad, he played 10 matches but only scored a total of 69 runs. And then came 2023, where he didn’t find any takers at the auction.

For a 31-year-old journeyman cricketer, who had made a mark primarily in white-ball cricket, not featuring in the most prestigious tournament of the country was a crushing blow.

But cut to a year later and Shashank, in Punjab Kings’ colours this time, finally had his moment in the sun. He fought back from the brink to land his fourth IPL contract and on Thursday, pulled off a sensational heist for PBKS against Gujarat Titans. With his team needing 127 runs to win off 54 balls, he took down the likes of Rashid Khan, Mohit Sharma and Noor Ahmad and notched up his first IPL half-century to finish off the chase. He didn’t give up on his dreams and at last, his big moment arrived.

“When I wasn’t selected for the IPL last year, I was feeling very down,” said Shashank during a media interaction on Friday.

“I was playing Ranji Trophy but couldn’t concentrate much because I always felt I belonged at the top level and could win matches for my team. I was quite frustrated at that time and my mind was wandering all over the place, I contemplated whether I should continue playing and thought this game wasn’t meant for me, that I wasn’t good enough. But my family played a very important role and really supported me, which helped me to keep going. I even started doing yoga and visualising, which has helped me stay calm on and off the field. I worked hard on my fitness and the mental aspect of the game. How I can handle pressure situations and deliver match-winning performances.”

When it comes to Shashank, who has represented three teams in domestic cricket besides the IPL rollercoaster so far in his career, the keyword has always been belief. Having played U-15 and U-17 cricket for Madhya Pradesh, he moved to Mumbai for better opportunities. On the local circuit, his strokeplay was feared as he got big runs consistently. Even back then, he had a penchant for hitting boundaries from the get-go and went on to represent Mumbai in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy and Vijay Hazare Trophy.

But across four seasons, he only got to play 15 T20s and three List A matches. And more importantly, he couldn’t manage to break into Mumbai’s red-ball side.

“The only thing out there was the competition,” said Shashank, who also bowls medium pace. “Players like Shreyas Iyer, Suryakumar Yadav, Shivam Dube, Abhishek Nayar and Siddhesh Lad were performing well. At the end of the day, only XI players can play. Practically, at some point you realise you want to see yourself as a first-class player as well. It’s not just about the white ball. As a professional, first-class cricket gives you a reality check in terms of where you stand as a player.”

It was a difficult phase for Shashank but after speaking with his father along with former India cricketer Abey Kuruvilla, who was the director at his club DY Patil, he decided to move away from Mumbai. And after playing just one List A game for Puducherry, he headed to his home state of Chhattisgarh.

In the six seasons since, he hasn’t really set the world on fire. Overall in his career, he has scored 858 runs in 21 first-class games, 986 runs in 30 List A games and 815 runs in 59 T20s. But he has kept delivering timely performances for Chhattisgarh in the white-ball formats. In a Vijay Hazare Trophy encounter against Manipur last November, he became the first Indian player to score more than 150 runs and take five wickets in the same List-A game. Having maintained a strike-rate of 141 in T20s, he was eventually spotted by PBKS scouts and his career got back on track.

Through all the years of toil, the key for Shashank was the unwavering belief in his ability. The sort of ability that stunned Gujarat Titans’ world-class bowling attack on Thursday.

“When you go to the crease, you have to believe that you’re the best batter in the world,” he said. “No matter who the bowler is, you have to have belief. If I believe the bowler is better than me, he’ll eat me up mentally on that day. So, whenever I play, I keep the belief that I’m the best player competing on the ground and I can finish off the match. This belief has developed over time by playing consistently. I have played in Mumbai, Chhattisgarh, and more adverse situations. That’s where the conviction in my ability comes from.”

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