The IPL 2024 auction made heads turn on Tuesday (Dec 19). The mega affair was held in Dubai, becoming the first-ever IPL auction being held outside India. Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins, Australia’s famed pace duo, ended as the top two expensive buys as Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) roped in Starc for INR 24.75 crore (247.5 million) and the latter went to the Sunrisers Hyderabad for INR 20.50 crore (205 million).

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Talking about the Punjab Kings (PBKS), they also added some key players to their squad. Harshal Patel was their highest buy, for INR 11.75 crore (117.5 million). However, their table made heads turn when they mistakenly bid for uncapped Indian player Shashank Singh. 

During the accelerated part of the auction, the Punjab franchise was keen to acquire some uncapped Indian players. After getting the services of Ashutosh Sharma and Vishwanath Pratap Singh at their respective base price, they turned their focus towards Shashank and raised the paddle when no other team did. After receiving the opening bid, auctioneer Mallika Sagar followed the routine procedure and eventually sold the player to Punjab. However, there was a late twist as the PBKS didn’t want the player and, thus, there was sheer chaos on their table. 

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“It was a wrong name? You don’t want the player?” asked the auctioneer Mallika. “We are talking about Shashank Singh. But the hammer has come down. Player No. 236 and 237 both went to you.”

Ness Wadia, another PBKS co-owner, then seemed to be informed that they mistakenly bid for Shashank. However, Mallika’s decision didn’t change and she replied, “I think the hammer has come down for 237 (Shashank) as well.”

It is to be noted that there were two Shashank Singhs in the IPL 2024 auction. The one roped in by Punjab is a 32-year-old batting all-rounder, who has been earlier part of the Delhi Capitals (DC), Mumbai Indians (MI) and Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH). In IPL 2023, he was part of the Orange Army, playing as many as 10 games where he failed to make any impact. On the other hand, the other is a 19-year-old bowling all-rounder, yet to make his first-class debut. Both of them had a base price of INR 20 lakh (2 million).

Usually, a young uncapped player is thrilled to bits when he sees a team bid for him in the IPL auction. While Shashank got a bid and found a franchise as well, one can say that he might not be on cloud nine seeing the strange turn of events. 

PUNJAB KINGS FINAL SQUAD AFTER IPL 2024 AUCTION

Shikhar Dhawan (c), Matthew Short, Prabhsimran Singh, Jitesh Sharma, Sikandar Raza, Rishi Dhawan, Liam Livingstone, Atharva Taide, Arshdeep Singh, Nathan Ellis, Sam Curran, Kagiso Rabada, Harpreet Brar, Rahul Chahar, Harpreet Bhatia, Vidwath Kaverappa, Shivam Singh, Harshal Patel, Chris Woakes, Ashutosh Sharma, Vishwanath Pratap Singh, Shashank Singh, Tanay Thyagarajann, Prince Choudhary, Rilee Rossouw. 

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