Shashank Singh - the man of the hour, PBKS' find of the season | IPL 2024

Shashank Singh, the accidental buy, has been among the most consistent batters in the 2024 season.

After the mini-auction in December 2023, Punjab Kings clarified that Singh was always on their target list and that confusion arose because of two players with the same name.

Accidental or not, Singh has proved to be every penny's worth for the Kings.

This is just his second season in the cash-rich league and the swashbuckling batter has only 19 games to his credit in total.

What do the numbers say about him?

In 9 outings this year, Shashank Singh has become the only PBKS batter this season to amass more than 200 runs, which include two noteworthy half-centuries as well. Singh averages at 65.75 and has a strike-rate of 182.64.

His IPL career commenced with Delhi Daredevils before he was bought by Rajasthan Royals in 2019 but did not play a game in the league till 2022.

Singh spent the 2022 season with Sunrisers Hyderabad and has heaped praises from former SRH coach Dale Steyn for being a 'hard worker and a team guy' but the batter did not quite find his footing there.

Though he has never played for India, Shashank's domestic numbers are worth looking at.

In First Class cricket, Singh has amassed 858 runs including a personal best of 122 meanwhile in List A matches, he has scored two centuries while averaging at 41.08 runs.

On the basis of his blistering IPL form and impressive domestic figures, if Singh were to receive his maiden India cap ahead of the T20 World Cup, he will be the third-oldest player to debut for India in T20Is, behind Rahul Dravid and Indika de Saram.