In an unexpected turn of events during the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 auction on Tuesday, the Punjab Kings (PBKS) found themselves embroiled in a massive error when they made the purchase of the ‘wrong player’.
The team realized their mistake after the auctioneer completed the offer on uncapped Indian talent Shashank Singh, whom they had wrongly acquired for a base price of Rs 20 lakh.
This is what happened:
When 32-year-old batting all-rounder Shashank Singh of the Chhattisgarh domestic cricket team was announced and called out by auctioneer Mallika Sagar during the accelerated round of the auction, chaos ensued.
After a quick conversation with her team, PBKS co-owner Preity Zinta raised the paddle despite the error, ensuring Shashank’s purchase.
But PBKS realized their error and told the auctioneer that they had mistaken Shashank for a different player as the auctioneer moved on to the next group of players.
Ness Wadia and Preity Zinta, the owners of PBKS, stated that they would like to re-enter Shashank Singh into the auction in an effort to atone for their blunder.
But according to IPL auction rules, a deal cannot be reserved once the hammer verifies the bid.