Auction Replay: When Shashank Singh's name caused massive confusion in the Punjab Kings camp
Shashank Singh scored a brilliant 61* off 29 as Punjab Kings beat Gujarat Titans by three wickets in match 17 of IPL 2024 at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Thursday, April 4. With the fighting performance, PBKS registered their second win in four games.
Bowling first after winning the toss, Punjab conceded 199 in 20 overs, picking up four wickets. Captain Shubman Gill top-scored for Gujarat Titans with 89* off 48, while Rahul Tewatia chipped in with 23* off 8.
In their chase of 200, Punjab Kings lost half their side for 111. However, Shashank and Impact Player Ashutosh Sharma (31 off 17) added 43 for the seventh wicket to lift PBKS to a stunning come-from-behind victory. Shashank was named the Player of the Match for his blazing knock, which featured six fours and four sixes.
Incidentally, the 32-year-old was in the news for a strange reason after he was purchased by Punjab Kings for ₹20 lakh at the IPL 2024 mini-auction.
After the purchase, PBKS co-owners Ness Wadia and Preity Zinta were seen raising their hands to discuss the bid with auctioneer Mallika Sagar. Punjab apparently wanted to take back the bid.
There was some confusion as two Shashank Singhs were part of the auction. The first one was a 19-year-old from Bengal, who went unsold. A few minutes later, the second Shashank was up for grabs and was purchased by PBKS. While it appeared that Punjab wanted to release the player, Sagar told them that it was against the rules, as the hammer had come down.
After being brutally trolled for supposedly purchasing the wrong player, Punjab Kings issued a statement over the controversy and confirmed that they had bought the right player after all.
"Official Update 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," PBKS' official social media handle posted.
"It’s All Cool … Thank you for Trusting on me!!!!," Shashank wrote, reacting to the clarification.
On Thursday in Ahmedabad, Shashank made his presence count in no uncertain terms with a brilliant innings.
Shashank Singh's career stats
The 32-year-old Shashank represents Chhattisgarh in domestic cricket. He has featured in 21 first-class games, scoring 858 runs at an average of 31.77, with one hundred and six fifties.
The right-handed batter has also scored 986 runs in 30 List A games at an average of 41.08 and a strike rate of 109.55, with two hundreds and three half-centuries. Shashank also has the experience of 59 List A games, where he has notched up six half-centuries.
In the IPL, he was earlier part of Delhi Capitals, Rajasthan Royals and SunRisers Hyderabad.