Shashank Singh of 'Mistaken Identity' Fame at IPL 2024 Auction Turns Hero for Punjab Kings

At the end of the auction for the Indian Premier League’s 2024 edition in December 2023, Punjab Kings were left red-faced when they got confused over the name of a player and reportedly picked the wrong one. They were prevented by the auctioneer from changing the player as the hammer had come down on the sale.

It appreared that the Punjab Kings management had bought the wrong Shashank Singh for Rs 20 lakh, picking up a 32-year-old who plays for Chhattisgarh, instead of the 19-year-old batter they had originally planned to rope in.

On Thursday, the ‘unwanted’ Shashank Singh showed his class wit hthe bat as he helped Punjab Kings (PBKS) beat Gujarat Titans (GT) by 3 wickets in the Indian Premier League (IPL) at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Thursday.

IPL 2024, Gujarat Titans vs Punjab Kings – HIGHLIGHTS

Shashank played the knock of his life, remaining unbeaten on 61 off 29 balls during which he hit six boundaries and four sixes to guide PBKS home with a ball to spare. He was ably supported by Ashutosh Sharma (31 off 17) as the duo shared 43 runs off just 22 balls to raise PBKS’ hopes, which eventually came true.

Stay updated with the latest from IPL 2024, including top contenders for the IPL 2024 Orange Cap and IPL 2024 Purple Cap. Explore the complete IPL 2024 Schedule, IPL 2024 Points Table and players with the Most Sixes, Most Fours and Most Fifties in IPL 2024

The Punjab Kings (PBKS) had apprantly made a significant blunder during the auction on December 20 last year by purchasing the ‘wrong player’. By the time they realised the mistake, the bid had already been completed and the auctioneer denied the reversal.

The focal point of this chaos was the uncapped Indian player, Shashank Singh, whom PBKS mistakenly bought at a base price of Rs 20 lakh after the team seemingly mixed up the name of the player during the auction held in Dubai.

During the accelerated round, the auctioneer Mallika Sagar announced and called out the name of 32-year-old Shashank, who represents Chhattisgarh in domestic cricket. Shashank has played 55 T20 games, amassing 724 runs at a strike rate of 135.83 while taking 15 wickets. He had previously been part of the Delhi Daredevils, Rajasthan Royals and Sunrisers Hyderabad squads in IPL and has represented Mumbai and Puducherry besides Chhattisgarh at the domestic level.

Though Punjab Kings later clarified that the uncapped batting all-rounder, who remained unsold in the previous year’s auction after being released by Sunrisers Hyderabad, was always on their target list and it was not an error on their part, not everyone was convinced.

On Thursday, Shashank Singh’s fiery knock proved to be the difference for Pubjab Kings.

(With inputs from Agencies)