WATCH: Preity Zinta buys 'wrong player' in IPL auction; then THIS happened

Bollywood actress Preity Zinta-owned Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise Punjab Kings (PBKS) became the butt of jokes during the player auction for the 2024 season.

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PBKS, previously called Kings XI Punjab, became the talking point during the IPL 2024 auction when they purchased a player they didn’t want in the first place.

It started when uncapped Shashank Singh was brought up in the auction at a base price of INR2 million. Preity Zinta raised the paddle after consultation with her team.

They quickly acquired the services of the player as other franchises were not interested in buying him.

PBKS realised they had mistaken Shashank Singh with another player with the same name when auctioneer Mallika Sagar proceeded to the next set of players.

They took the matter to the auctioneer, who refused to entertain their request of reversing the bid.

“It was a wrong name? You don’t want the player? We are talking about Shashank Singh. But the hammer has come down. Player No. 236 and 237 both went to you,” she said.

Fantastic scenes here as the notoriously inept Punjab Kings manage to not only purchase a player they didn’t want, (Shashank Singh), they also admit to this in front of literally everyone. Singh we can guess is sat at home wondering whether to show up in March. #IPLAuction #pbks pic.twitter.com/PtLQv9t07H

— Punjab Kings UK🇬🇧👑 (@PunjabKingsUK) December 19, 2023

The franchise had no other option but to include the youngster in the roster for the upcoming season.

Punjab Kings were being mocked for their hilarious blunder by netizens. Here’s how they reacted to it.

I feel for the other Shashank Singh

— GS (@Gaganpreet6797) December 20, 2023

What is Shashank singh will be doing who got selected
Will he celebrate or will he be sad
What will his family members do
They can’t even call anyone and tell our child got selected as they will say they didn’t wanted tho 😅
His presence in team will be great unwanted player🤣

— silencer (@AniketS41273) December 20, 2023

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CSK’S Sundar Raman’s reaction at 1.41 though😂😂

— Ramesh (@Ramesh230557) December 19, 2023

These clowns 🤣 Such an embarrassment to be a fan but that’s the cost you have to pay to be a loyal fan 🥲

— Sibasish (@smsibasish) December 20, 2023

16 Seasons into the IPL and Punjab kings is the only team in IPL whose owner Preity Zinta has more fans than the team himself.

— Ketanv (@VK_28off8) December 20, 2023

The franchise released a statement after the conundrum.

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It is to be noted that the franchise have not won an IPL title yet. Their best performance was in the 2014 edition where they finished as runners-up.

Punjab Kings squad for IPL 2024: Shikhar Dhawan (captain), Matthew Short, Prabhsimran Singh, Jitesh Sharma, Sikandar Raza, Rishi Dhawan, Liam Livingstone, Atharva Taide, Arshdeep Singh, Nathan Ellis, Sam Curran, Kagiso Rabada, Harpreet Brar, Rahul Chahar, Harpreet Bhatia, Vidwath Kaverappa, Shivam Singh, Harshal Patel, Chris Woakes, Ashutosh Sharma, Vishwanath Pratap Singh, Shashank Singh, Tanay Thyagarajann, Prince Choudhary, and Rilee Rossouw.