The Indian Premier League (IPL) auction on Tuesday (December 19, 2023) witnessed a bizarre moment when Punjab Kings bought a ‘wrong player’ and could not fix the big gaffe.
Upon realizing the mistake committed, Punjab Kings brought the matter to the attention of auctioneer Mallika Sagar.
However, the franchise was informed that the bid was already complete and could not be reversed.
The player who is in the middle of the row is Shashank Singh.
The cricketer surely won’t be in a joyful mood after realising that the franchise that successfully bid for him did not even want his service.
The incident happened during a heated auctioning event where the Punjab team was desperately trying to add some uncapped India cricketers to the squad.
They clinched Ashutosh Sharma and Vishwanath Pratap Singh at the base price of Rs. 20 lakh (USD 24,053).
Then the moment of surprise occurred when Shashank Singh’s name was brought up by the auctioneer.
After discussion, co-owner Preity Zinta raised the paddle and with no other franchise opting for him, the bid ended with the cricketer being sold to the Punjab franchise.
The auctioneer soon moved to the next cricketer Tanay Thyagrajan and soon Punjab realised the mistake and brought the attention of Mallika Sagar on the matter.
“It was a wrong name? You don’t want the player?” Mallika asked Punjab as was quoted as saying by NDTV.
She said: “We are talking about Shashank Singh. But the hammer has come down. Player No. 236 and 237 both went to you.”
Despite the Punjabi franchise raising displeasure, the auctioneer remained firm and Shashank Singh joined his first franchise for IPL 2024.