"Ness Wadia is in his own dreamland. Bro has no clue" - Twitter reacts as PBKS bid for the 'wrong' Shashank Singh at the IPL 2024 Auction
The Punjab Kings (PBKS) committed one of the biggest blunders in Indian Premier League (IPL) auction history by placing a winning bid for Shashank Singh when in fact, it was his namesake they were after.
When Shashank Singh's name came up during the accelerated round of the auction, the 2014 IPL finalists placed the first bid for his base price of ₹20 lakh, and with no other franchise placing a counter bid, the player was assigned to PBKS as per protocol.
However, PBKS only realized that they got a hold of the wrong player after the process was complete. The franchise did try raising the issue with the auctioneer when the bidding for the next player began, but as per the guidelines the bid cannot be reversed after the hammer has come down.
The entire process was deemed unprofessional by fans, who believe that PBKS' calling puts the player in a very awkward position.
Here are some of the reactions on Twitter after the confusing set of events:
PBKS bought four players in a row during the accelerated round, including Shashank Singh
PBKS had a few gaps to fill in their squad following the 2023 season. Their biggest purchase of the 2024 mini-auction came in the form of Harshal Patel for ₹11.75 crore. They also roped in overseas names like Rilee Rossouw and Chris Woakes, which cost an additional ₹12.20 crore.
With the remaining funds, they got a hold of a slew of uncapped local players, including Shashank Singh. At one stage during the accelerated round of the auction, they made four successive winning bids to rope in Vishwanathan Pratap Singh, Shashank Singh, Tanay Thyagaranjann, and Prince Choudhary - all for their base price of ₹20 lakh.
PBKS are looking to make it to the playoffs for the first time since the 2014 edition. Despite a new captain-coach combination of Shikhar Dhawan and Trevor Bayliss, the franchise finished eighth in the table with 12 points.
Where will PBKS finish in the 2024 season? Let us know what you think.