Punjab Kings (PBKS) retained Shashank Singh for 5.5 Crores before the mega auction and asked him about his feelings when the franchise decided to retain him. Shashank Singh, 32, was the franchise’s first retention ahead of Arshdeep Singh which was surprising. The IPL 2025 Mega Auction is slated for 24 and 25 November in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, and is tipped to be the biggest auction in the IPL’s history.
The newly appointed PBKS head coach, Ricky Ponting, will have his task cut out. There are chances that PBKS might bid for Steve Smith, who played for Major League Cricket (MLC) for Washington Freedom, where Ricky Ponting was the head coach. Smith amassed 336 runs in 9 innings and won the championship as well.
Shashank Singh: A Standout Performer Despite Punjab Kings’ Struggles
Shashank made headlines last year during the auction when PBKS bought the middle-order batter. Although the Punjab-based franchise did not taste success last season, Shashank was, arguably the leading run maker, scoring 354 runs in 14 matches, and an important innings of 68 not out which took his team to victory against the combined force of Kolkata Knight Riders to chase 262.
Before the next season, among all the players, Shashank was one of the two players who were retained along with Prabhsimran Singh, but Chattisgarh player Shashank has been retained for ₹ 5.5 crore. On being one of the leadership prospects for the side, Shashank said (via News18):
“Honestly, I don’t know much about it. I have been leading in the DY Patil T20 tournament for five years and touchwood, I’m doing good so far. Even for Chhattisgarh, if the management considers me capable of leading the side, I would accept it happily. I feel that I have the ability to lead a side and win a championship,”
“Similarly, if Punjab Kings want to try me as captain, I will definitely grab that opportunity with both hands and make proper use of it. I will be grateful but not expecting anything. However, the responsibility on my shoulder doesn’t change at all. Be it an uncapped player last year or an uncapped retention now, the job is to go out and give my 110% and make the team win,” he added.
Punjab Kings Part Ways with Stars, Retain Shashank Singh Amid Major Changes
“It felt really good when it became official on Diwali. I got a call 2-3 days before the announcement. It felt really good as they considered me capable enough to retain. They had that faith in me that I can do well for this team next year,”
“My mom and dad were the most relieved because of the amount of hard work they have done for me, hardly anyone else would have done so. I was quite relieved and had a lot of fun. Diwali was really good” he said
Punjab Kings go into the auction with a total of ₹ 110.0 Crore purse, the highest among all the franchises. They will have 23 slots for the next season of the IPL.