IPL 2024 Auction: Punjab Kings buy the wrong player, auctioneer denies withdrawl request

The Punjab Kings franchise made a big mistake in the IPL 2024 auction as they bought the ‘wrong player’. After realising the blunder, the franchise did raise the issue with the auctioneer Mallika Sagar but was informed that the bid had already been finished, hence the reversal is not possible. The uncapped player they bought was Indian Shashank Singh, who is unlikely to be in a happy mood after knowing the news that the franchise made a successful bid for him, and didn’t even want him in the first place.

All 10 franchises that are present in the auction room have an entire roster of players on their laptop screens. All teams do their homework before entering the auction room, analysing which player they want to buy, including the top and less known ones. Punjab Kings unintentionally purchased two players, resulting in a bid reversal for Shashank Sign. Despite numerous attempts, the auctioneer refused to allow the team to withdraw their bid.

IPL 2024 Auction: List of Final 10 Teams, With Players Bought, Strength, Remaining Purse and Retained

But Ness Wadia, Preity Zinta and other teammates made a mistake on the auction table as they mistook Chattisgarh player Shashank Singh for someone else. But by the time they could repair the damage, the player was already sold. The epic scenes in the auction room were truly unprecedented as Punjab Kings made a mockery of their own auction strategy. Here’s the video:

Fantastic scenes here as the notoriously inept Punjab Kings manage to not only purchase a player they didn’t want, (Shashank Singh), they also admit to this in front of literally everyone. Singh we can guess is sat at home wondering whether to show up in March. #IPLAuction #pbks pic.twitter.com/PtLQv9t07H

— Punjab Kings UK🇬🇧👑 (@PunjabKingsUK) December 19, 2023

How did PBKS buy uncapped Shashank Singh for INR 20 lakh?

Shashank Singh was brought up in the accelerated phase of the auction, with PBKS and other franchises looking to buy some uncapped players in the category of INR 20 lakh base price.

When Shashank’s name came, Preity Zinta raised the paddle after discussing the player with her teammates. The player was quickly sold as no other franchise bid for him, and the hammer went down quickly.

When the auctioneer Mallika Sagar moved to the next set of players, PBKS realised their mistake. The team found that they mistook Shashank for some other player,

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

Wadia was seen to be voicing his displeasure at the sale but the auctioneer remained firm on her stance, saying the hammer was down. “I think the hammer has come down for 237 (Shashank) as well,” she said.

Despite not wanting the player in the first place, PBKS had no option but to add him to their roster.