 "All you need to know about Shashank Singh, Punjab Kings’ hero against Gujarat Titans")
Shashank Singh experienced what certainly is the biggest moment of his cricketing career so far as he not only brought up his maiden half-century in the Indian Premier League (IPL), but also managed to guide Punjab Kings (PBKS) to a thrilling victory over former champions Gujarat Titans (GT).
Playing only his second IPL season at the age of 32, the Chhattisgarh batter — who has also represented Puducherry in the domestic circuit — struck an unbeaten 61 off just 29 deliveries to power PBKS to a three-wicket victory in their chase of a 200-run target set by GT.
While Punjab managed to get back to winning ways after suffering back-to-back defeats, it was the first loss of the season for 2022 champions Gujarat, who have now won two and lost as many in the ongoing season.
Victory, however, appeared assured for the Titans at one stage after they had the Kings on the mat at 111/5 in the 13th over, with PBKS needing 89 off 46 following all-rounder Sikandar Raza’s dismissal off pacer Mohit Sharma’s bowling.
Had it not been for Shashank, who remained calm and whose maturity belied his inexperience at this level of the sport, Punjab would’ve struggled to get close to the target and were headed for a third straight defeat.
Shashank would stitch two solid partnerships with Jitesh Sharma (16 off 8) and Impact Substitute Ashutosh Sharma (31 off 17) worth 39 and 43 respectively to get PBKS within touching distance of the target, and ensured he got his team over the line.
Impact Shorts
More ShortsSo who exactly is Shashank Singh, the middle-order batter who has now become the latest uncapped Indian to shine in the 17th season of the world’s biggest T20 league?
Here’s everything you need to know about him:
Who is Shashank Singh?
Son of an Indian Police Service (IPS) officer, Shashank grew up in multiple cities and took up cricket at an early age. Having always been handy with the ball, where he took up off-spin in his early years, he would later switch to medium pace, and currently bowls a bit of both. However, his batting skills have always kept him in the limelight.
Shashank, who was part of the Mumbai U-19 team, was adjudged the ‘Man of the Series’ in an Inter Club T20 competition organised by the Mumbai Cricket Association, collecting 240 runs and 13 wickets in just five matches. He was also the leading run-scorer for Mumbai University in the Rohinton Baria All India Inter University Tournament, scoring 230 runs at an average of 76.6. Shashank was just as impressive in the 2014-15 edition of Red Bull Campus Cricket, where he played a central role in helping Rizvi College emerge triumphant.
Shashank would make his senior debut with Mumbai in the 2014-15 edition of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy in the shortest format, and make his List A debut in the 2015-16 Vijay Hazare Trophy. The all-rounder, however, would leave Mumbai in 2018 and represent Puducherry for a year before joining Chhattisgarh in 2019, making his First-Class debut with them in the Ranji Trophy that year.
He has 21 First-Class and 30 List-A appearances to his credit in a domestic career spanning nine years, besides 58 T20Is that includes 10 appearances for Sunrisers Hyderabad in 2022 and four appearances for PBKS this season. Shashank was previously part of the Delhi Capitals (2017) and Rajasthan Royals (2019-21) franchises but did not make a single appearance for either.
What was the confusion involving Shashank at the IPL auction?
Before he set the stage alight on Thursday with his match-winning knock, Shashank had made headlines for all the wrong reasons .
He was after all, involved in an infamous mix-up involving the Punjab Kings as well as another player named Shashank Singh in the IPL mini auction that took place in Dubai on 19 December.
The ‘other’ Shashank Singh who made the shortlist for the player auction was a 20-year-old Bengal batter who was yet to make an appearance in the IPL. Punjab, however, had him in mind when they made a successful bid for Shashank at his base price of Rs 20 lakh during the accelerated round of the player auction.
It was only after auctioneer Mallika Sagar’s hammer had come down that PBKS co-owners rather embarrassingly admitted to their mistake and tried to withdraw their bid, a moment that would go viral on social media soon after and was doing the rounds once again on Thursday.
Sagar, however, made it clear that a franchise could not withdraw their bid once the hammer had come down and the sale was completed, meaning Punjab had little option but to contend themselves with the purchase.
PBKS, on their part, went into damage control mode a couple of days after the auction.
“Punjab Kings would like to clarify that Shashank Singh was always on our target list. 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,” read an official statement from PBKS on 21 December.
After Thursday’s dramatic scenes at Ahmedabad’s Narendra Modi Stadium, however, Preity Zinta and Ness Wadia will perhaps be looking back at the confusion in Dubai as a lucky mistake after all.
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