Punjab Kings (PBKS) scripted history in the IPL (Indian Premier League) on Thursday (April 4) as they chased the target of 200 at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad against Gujarat Titans (GT) and interestingly their hero of the evening was a player that they seemed to offload at the IPL 2024 auction in Dubai.
Shashank Singh turned out to be the hero for Punjab Kings on Thursday after the Shikhar Dhawan-led side was reeling at 70/4 in 8.4 overs. The right-handed batter was in full flow in Ahmedabad and seemed unfazed when wickets continued to tumble at the other end in pursuit of a huge total.
Shashank, 32, went hell for leather from ball one and decimated the Titans' bowling attack. Shashank's onslaught forced Titans' bowlers to play the guessing game and they got outclassed eventually. PBKS' latest recruit counterattacked in sublime style and ensured the asking rate didn't go out of PBKS' grasp.
He stitched two crucial partnerships which eventually decided the fate of the game. He added 39 runs for the sixth wicket with Jitesh Sharma and then put together 43 runs with Ashutosh Sharma to shut the door down on Titans' face.
Shashank scored 61 off just 29 balls with the help of six fours and four maximums and tonked the ball at a strike rate of 210.34.
The Curious Case of Shashank Singh
Shashank, who plays for Chhattisgarh in the domestic circuit, was bought by PBKS at the IPL 2024 auction in Dubai at his base price of Rs 20 lakhs. However, the PBKS management seemed confused and requested the auctioneer Mallika Sagar for a provision to offload the guy stating, he wasn't the Shashank whom they were after.
Once Mallika informed them that the move couldn't be undone, they settled for him and even put out a clarification post on X that he was the one, they were in pursuit of and the situation got messed up due to confusion.
Shashank replied to PBKS' post by saying, "It's all cool... Thank you for Trusting on me!!!!"
