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The Punjab Kings (PBKS) roped in uncapped Indian player Shashank Singh for his base price of ₹20 lakh at the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 mini-auction in Dubai on Tuesday.
The bid sparked a major controversy. After it was announced that Singh had been sold to PBKS, members of the Punjab team management present at the auction table interrupted the auctioneer, Mallika Sagar. It appeared that the franchise raised the paddle for the wrong player.
On Wednesday, Punjab shared an official statement denying the report of them 'erroneously' buying a player. They clarified that Singh was on their target list, and the team did not buy the wrong player. They also mentioned that two players with the same name were on the list, leading to confusion.
"Punjab Kings would like to clarify that Shashank Singh was always on our target list," PBKS said in a statement. "The confusion was due to 2 players of the same name being on the list. We are delighted to have him onboard and see him contribute to our success."
Shashank Singh also responded to PBKS' statement. Thanking the franchise for picking him at the IPL 2024 auction, he wrote:
"It’s All Cool … Thank you for Trusting on me!!!!"
The Punjab Kings had a disastrous campaign in the latest edition of the IPL. They failed to qualify for the playoffs, finishing eighth on the points table, with just six wins from 14 games.
PBKS signed 8 players at IPL 2024 auction
The Punjab Kings broke the bank to bolster their bowling department by shelling out a whopping ₹11.75 crore to acquire the services of former Royal Challengers Bangalore pacer Harshal Patel.
They also roped in England's senior seamer Chris Woakes for ₹4.2 crore. Punjab spent big to bring in South Africa's swashbuckling batter Rilee Rossouw, signing him for ₹8 crore.
The franchise invested in a few uncapped Indian players as well, buying Ashutosh Sharma, Vishwanathan Pratap Singh, Shashank Singh, Tanay Thyagaranjann, and Prince Choudhary for ₹20 lakh each.
PBKS squad for IPL 2024
Shikhar Dhawan (c), Matthew Short, Prabhsimran Singh (wk), Jitesh Sharma (wk), 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, Chris Woakes, Harshal Patel, Ashutosh Sharma, Vishwanathan Pratap Singh, Shashank Singh, Tanay Thyagaranjann, Prince Choudhary, and Rilee Rossouw.
