Did Punjab Kings (PBKS) mistakenly buy Shashank Singh during the mini-auction of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024? The upper echelons of the Punjab-based franchise created confusion on the auction table when they acquired the services of Shashank at his base price for the upcoming season of the cash-rich league on Tuesday in Dubai. The Indian cricketer was deemed surplus to requirements as Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) had released him in the lead-up to the 2023 season.
He was also unsold in the previous edition of the mega auction. However, stars seemed to have aligned for Shashank when Punjab Kings made an early advance to sign the uncapped player at the IPL 2024 auction. It looked like Shashank had PBKS' attention when his name was called by auctioneer Mallika Sagar in the accelerated round of the mini-auction.
When Mallika brought down the hammer and completed the bidding process of the Chhattisgarh cricketer, PBKS owners Ness Wadia and Preity Zinta tried informing the auctioneer that they confused the player with another cricketer. "It was a wrong name? You don't want the player?" Mallika asked. "We are talking about Shashank Singh. But the hammer has come down. Player No. 236 and 237 both went to you," she added before Wadia told the auctioneer that they wanted to bid for another player.
"I think the hammer has come down for 237 (Shashank) as well," said Mallika, who had earlier given a "fair warning" to all teams before closing the bidding. Interestingly, there were two players named Shashank Singh at the IPL 2024 auction. The other Shashank is a 19-year-old youngster yet to ply his trade in first-class cricket. Both players had the same base price of INR 20 lakh for the IPL auction.
Did Punjab sign the wrong Shashank for the auction? The franchise has cleared the air about its recent purchase. Though Wadia and Zinta looked keen to send back the player to the auction pool, the Punjab-based franchise has clarified that PBKS have signed the cricketer they always wanted in their squad for next season. “Punjab Kings would like to clarify that Shashank Singh was always on our target list. The confusion was due to 2 players of the same name being on the list. We are delighted to have him on board and see him contribute to our success,” Punjab Kings said.
"Two players of similar names on the IPL list created confusion. I am delighted to share that the right Shashank Singh has been onboarded. He has put out some noteworthy performances, and we're ready to unleash his talent," added Satish Menon, who is the CEO of Punjab Kings.
Veteran opener Shikhar Dhawan will lead Punjab Kings for the 2024 season of the cash-rich league. The PBKS franchise roped in Harshal Patel for a staggering sum of INR 11.75 crore at the Dubai auction. PBKS also placed the winning bid for Chris Woakes at INR 4.20 crore while Rilee Rossouw has joined the Punjab franchise for INR 8 crore. The franchise also handed IPL deals to Ashutosh Sharma (INR 20 lakh), Vishwanath Pratap Singh (INR 20 lakh), Tanay Thyagarajann (INR 20 lakh), and Prince Choudhary (INR 20 lakh) for the 2024 season.
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