IPL 2024 Auction: Punjab Kings attempt to withdraw bid after securing Shashank Singh, auctioneer turns down request

The Indian Premier League (IPL) Player Auction turned out be another eventful affair with Australia pacers Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins fetching record sums and numerous uncapped Indians becoming overnight crorepatis.

The event that took place at Dubai’s Coca-Cola Arena on Tuesday, however, also witnessed something that has rarely happened before in IPL auction history — that of a franchise trying to take back their bid after successfully bidding for a player.

The said incident took place during the accelerated round of Tuesday’s mini-auction, the first in the tournament’s history to take place outside India, with Punjab Kings (PBKS) making a successful bid for uncapped all-rounder Shashank Singh at his base price of Rs 20 lakh.

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

Just as auctioneer Mallika Sagar was preparing to move on to the next player, PBKS co-owners Ness Wadia and Preity Zinta indicated they made a mistake and indicated their desire to withdraw the bid for Shashank. “The hammer has come down now,” Sagar told Zinta and Wadia.

The confusion might have arisen from the fact that there are two players named Shashank Singh in the shortlist for the auction, the other a 20-year-old uncapped batter from Bengal with no previous IPL experience. Punjab, who were on a shopping spree during the accelerated auction in an attempt to quickly fill up their slots, might have had that Shashank in mind while placing the bid.

The auctioneer, however, made it clear that the sale was final once her gavel hit the table, and that the franchise could not go back to their decision.

Touchdown in #SaddaAkhada! 🛬

Gliding in from the East, the versatile Shashank Singh has arrived. 🤩#IPL2024Auction #SaddaPunjab #PunjabKings #JazbaHaiPunjabi pic.twitter.com/zOofYozuGe

— Punjab Kings (@PunjabKingsIPL) December 19, 2023

Shashank has been part of the Delhi Daredevils (now capitals), Rajasthan Royals and Sunrisers Hyderabad squads in the past and Punjab Kings will be his fourth team in the prestigious league. He made 10 appearances for SRH in the 2022 edition.

Punjab Kings had three major purchases from the auction, getting seamer Harshal Patel for a sum of Rs 11.75 crore in what was their most expensive buy. They also got South Africa batter Rilee Rossouw for Rs 8 crore in the accelerated auction after an intense bidding war with Delhi Capitals, which helped them fill their overseas slots.