When The Real Slim 'Shashank Singh' Stood Up

In what can only be described as the biggest story of the Ind T20 League 2024 thus far, Shashank Singh played a blinder of a knock to guide Punjab to a morale boosting victory against Gujarat at the Narendra Modi Stadium. Shashank’s unbeaten 29-ball 61 made the difference as his team registered the highest run chase this year. This win put Punjab atop the elite list of teams with the most successful 200-plus chases. Besides Shashank, the other chief architect of the run chase was another uncapped prospect in Ashutosh Sharma who had come in as the impact player. The duo’s late blitzkrieg meant that a majestic Shubman Gill innings earlier in the evening ended up on the losing side.  

The narrative surrounding Shashank Singh at the Ind T20 League 2024 auctions was peculiar. Having acquired his services at base price, Punjab think tank promptly stated that they had apparently placed a bid for the wrong person, as the registered list had another player of the same name. It was a humiliating situation, not only just for the franchise but also for the player who would have seen innumerable dreams when he learnt of his Ind T20 League contract. Days later Punjab issued a statement clarifying that they indeed had roped in the ‘right man’ but whether that step was taken to avoid further humiliation or not, we’ll never know but one thing that we know for certain is the franchise would be thanking their stars that they bought him at the auctions. On a night when prominent stars failed to contribute, Shashank stood firmly and wrote his sensational story.