Exclusive: Shashank Singh on his Retention by Punjab Kings in IPL, working with Ricky Ponting, Future Plans and More

The Indian Premier League (IPL) Auction is around the corner, as all ten franchises recently announced their retentions.

Since it will be a mega auction, teams were allowed to retain a maximum of six players. Punjab Kings was the only franchise to retain only two players: Shashank Singh and Prabsimran Singh.

Shashank Singh, the right-handed explosive batter, had a brilliant last season of IPL, scoring 354 runs in 14 matches at an average of 44.25 and a staggering strike rate of 161.

His performances had given an indication that he might be retained but in a tournament like IPL, things are never really certain. So, how did the retention process unfold?

“Just two, three days before Diwali, I had a call with Satish Menon sir (CEO), Ashish Tuli paaji (GM) and a few other team officials. It didn’t take much time because I obviously wanted to be part of the franchise since they gave me the opportunity last year, which I am very thankful about, and they were very keen too (to retain me),” Shashank Singh told SportsBoom.com in an exclusive interview.

Shashank had some hopes of getting retained but he was not really sure whether Punjab Kings would retain him or not.

After that, I made sure I just focus on the process and don’t think too much about anything. There were things going in the back of my mind, but I was not really expecting (to be retained).” He said.

Interestingly, during the IPL Auction 2024, when Punjab Kings raised the paddle to buy Shashank Singh, there was a bit of confusion with the franchise requesting to withdraw the purchase as there were two players named Shashank Singh. Social media was abuzz with memes after that, but Shashank says it didn’t bother him much.

“I was not on social media when that happened, and it was never the thing between me and the franchise. They were always sure about me. When I went to the Punjab Kings camp, the management was quite happy to see me,” Shashank clarified.

Shashank was bought at 20 lakhs INR in the IPL Auction last year but has been retained for a whopping 5.5 crores INR this time around. When asked whether the pressure of retention will be there as he takes the field in IPL 2025, he said, “When you play cricket, you always try to see your team on the winning side. The intent will be the same. I obviously have expectations from myself; there were a few mistakes that I made last year, which I would want to rectify. And expectations from fans, family and other people will be there but as a professional, you have to take all this.”

Punjab Kings, who are yet to win an IPL trophy, earlier this year appointed Australian veteran Ricky Ponting as their new head coach and Shashank is quite excited to work alongside him.