IPL auction 2023 blunder: Punjab Kings accidentally buy wrong player; auctioneer Mallika Sagar denies withdrawal request

IPL auction 2023: Confusions are common in IPL auctions, be it bid reversal, player sums, or return of unsold players in the auction pool. In the latest incident, Punjab Kings ended up buying cricketer Shashanj Singh in an accidental bid during IPL auction held in Dubai on Tuesday. Despite repeated requests, the auctioneer didn't let the team reverse their bid.

Later, the team had clarified that it had picked the right player and there was confusion between two players of same name. However, the videos of the bidding showcase that the team appeared to look confused about the player it bought, reported PTI.

Chattisgarh's Shashank Singh was bought by Punjab Kings for ₹20 lakh. However, the auction story for Singh didn't end there. 

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Within minutes after completing the IPL bid for Singh for ₹20 lakh, PBKS co-owner Preity Zinta raised her hand after discussing with members to interrupt the IPL auctioneer Mallika Soni. The interruption was made to reverse Sashank Singh's auction bid as the Punjab Kings accidentally bought another player. 

The team had already bought Ashutosh Sharma and Vishwanath Pratap Singh at their respective base price of ₹20 lakh. When the auctioneer announced the name of Shashank Singh, Preity Zinta raised the paddle to seal the deal. Afterwards, the auctioneer followed the procedure of putting the hammer down to confirm the purchase of Sashank Singh for Punjab Kings.

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As a next step, the auctioneer proceeded to the last player for bidding the uncapped all-rounder, Tanay Thyagrajan. However, she was stopped by chaos at the PBKS table. Amid discussions between all the members of the PBKS members, Ness Wadia, head coach Trevor Bayliss, and others looked confused. Wadia and Zinta raised their hands to interrupt the auctioneer and admit that they did not want the player they had bid for, ie Shashank Singh.

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"It was a wrong name? You don't want the player?" asked Mallika. "We are talking about Shashank Singh. But the hammer has come down. Player No. 236 and 237 both went to you."

Afterwards, Wadia appeared to be saying that the team mistakenly bid for Shashank. But the auctioneer continued to remind the team that the hammer came down for Shashank and nothing could be done after that. Ultimately, the team agreed to continue their accidental bid for Shashank.

Now, the team has clarified that Sashank Singh from Chattisgarh was already on their target list and the confusion was because of the presence of two players of same name on the list.

“Media have reported on Shashank Singh being bought erroneously by Punjab Kings. The Kings would like to clarify that the player was always on our target list,” PBKS said in its clarification.