Shashank Singh was bought by Punjab Kings mistakenly after the team seemingly mixed up the name of the player during the 2024 IPL auction on Tuesday (December 19).
During a hastily conducted round, Shashank’s name was prepared and called by auctioneer Mallika Sagar. The 32-year-old plays domestic cricket for Chhattisgarh and went unsold at last year’s auction after being released by Sunrisers Hyderabad.
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He found a team for IPL 2024 as Punjab Kings were the only team to bid for the uncapped all-rounder in Dubai. When Sagar brought down the gavel to confirm that Shashank had been sold to the franchise, PBKS owners Ness Wadia and Preity Zinta told her that she had confused Shashank with another player and apparently Suggested they may have been bought by mistake.
However, Sagar remained unmoved, saying “the hammer has been dropped” and indicating that Punjab cannot reverse its decision and cancel the Shashank takeover.
Wadia and Zinta were keen to put it back up for auction, but all auction rules prevent this from happening once the hammer has fallen and the purchase has been finalized.
Speaking about the
Jio Cinema incident, host Suhail Chandhok criticized the move and said that the franchise’s tactics appear to be unclear. “If your plan is clear, you won’t see it at auction.”
Program expert Mike Hesson commented on Punjab’s performance at the auction: “I don’t know what Punjab achieved in this IPL auction. There’s a lot of backup, but not a lot of substance.”
The most expensive purchase for the team was Harshal Patel who joined the team for Rs 11.75 crore.
Shashank played 55 T20s, scoring 724 runs at a strike rate of 135.83 and winning 15 scalps.
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