After bringing in this player, the Punjab team realized that they had bid on the wrong player.
Shashank Singh: Punjab Kings’ explosive batsman Shashank Singh scored 21 runs on 8 balls in the match against RCB. In the match played at the Chinnaswamy Stadium on March 25, the Punjab Kings team was struggling to reach a respectable score. Looking at the Bengaluru pitch, RCB batsmen can easily reach this score. However, in the last over, Shashank, who was mistakenly included in the auction by Punjab, increased Punjab’s runs and took the team to 176.
Shashank Singh scored 20 runs in the 20th over of Alzarri Joseph. He started the over with a six over square leg. Joseph bowled the next ball well and Shashank did not get a single run. But on the third ball, Shashank pulled his short pitch ball towards midwicket and sent it into the stands. He again hit a four on the next ball. He could score only one run on the fifth ball. But after continuous boundaries, Joseph also faltered and bowled a wide ball under pressure. Shashank could score only one run on the last ball but his three big hits in the last over took Punjab to 176 runs.
Shashank Singh performed brilliantly for Punjab in the last over. But the chance of his entry into the Punjab Kings team is equally different. During the IPL auction in December 2023, Punjab had mistakenly bid in Shashank’s name. There were two players named Shashank Singh in the pool of players available for the auction. One was 32 year old Shashank from Chhattisgarh and the other was 19 year old player Shashank Singh. As soon as Shashank’s name came up, Punjab team owner Preity Zinta bid at the base price of Rs 20 lakh. Other teams did not show any interest in bidding for Shashank, so Shashank joined the Punjab team.
Watch video of Shashank Singh’s batting
Shashank Singh – Our starboy starts the #IPL2024 Season with Batting Brilliance!#CSCS #ShashankSingh #IPLStar #ChhattisgarhPride #SaddaPunjab #PunjabKings #JazbaHaiPunjabi #PBKS #CricketCSCS #TeamCSCS #GoTeamCG #ChhattisgarhCricket #Chhattisgarh pic.twitter.com/MZF7hdEm0T
— Chhattisgarh Cricket (@CricketCSCS) March 26, 2024
After bringing in Shashank, the Punjab team realized that they had bid on the wrong player. This created confusion in the team camp and they demanded the auctioneers to replace the player. But by then time had passed. But Punjab Kings later clarified that the uncapped all-rounder, who remained unsold in the auction after being released by Sunrisers Hyderabad last year, was always in their player list and hence has not been bought in the auction by mistake.
Shashank has played a total of 56 T20 matches in his cricket career, in which he has scored 761 runs with five half-centuries and a strike rate of 135.58. Shashank has also been a part of Delhi Daredevils (Delhi Capitals), Sunrisers Hyderabad and Rajasthan Royals in IPL.