IPL 2024: I don’t think Punjab Kings would put Shashank Singh back in the auction, says Steve Smith

New Delhi: Former Australia cricketer Steve Smith has praised the performance of Shashank Singh and called it an incredible knock and said that Punjab Kings will not put in the auction the batter they picked at his base price. Coming down at No.6, Shashank with his breathtaking knock of 61 not out in 29 deliveries sealed the match for the Kings against Gujarat Titans with three wickets and one ball left.

“It was incredible. They wanted to put Shashank Singh back in the auction, but I'm not sure they'd want to do that now. That was an incredible knock. 61 off 29 balls, that was great to witness, under pressure, that partnership in the backend was outstanding. So the game has everything; it went right down to the wire,” Steve Smith told Star Sports.

Shashank stitched up a partnership with debutant Ashutosh Sharma, which was the key as both batters added 43 runs off a mere 22 deliveries. Punjab were reeling on 70/4 when Shashank walked out to bat in the ninth over in the chase of 200. Ashutosh starred for PBKS in their win over Gujarat.

PBKS were reeling on 150 for 6 after 15.3 overs in a chase of 200 runs against GT when the debutant walked out to the crease and went on to stitch up a match-winning partnership of 43 runs in 22 deliveries with Shashank Singh.

Former England cricketer Stuart Broad spoke on Ashutosh Sharma's innings and cited it as incredible. “Incredible, I think the sweep shot is a real strength of his, and what surprised me really is he was very aware of where the fielders were. So that is a skill when you're under pressure, you know, big ground, big stadium, you go out as an impact sub, lots is going on in your mind. So having the clarity to pick the gaps and find the boundary with the shot selection was really good, and Punjab wouldn't have got that result without him coming in and just injecting those boundaries.”

"You do get different stadiums where it's just more difficult to take catches, just the vision of it off the bat. Sometimes, you can lose sight of it in the crowd. And as soon as you lose sight of it off the bat, you tense up, your shoulders go tense, and that makes it so much harder to catch. So, there are some stadiums where you don't get quite the visuals that make it very hard to take a catch,” he added.