“If Punjab Kings want to try me as captain, I will definitely grab that opportunity"- Shashank Singh on being retained by PBKS 

Shashank Singh, who was retained by the Punjab Kings ahead of the mega auction, opened up about his journey and how he felt when the franchise retained him. Singh, 32, was the first retention of the franchise.

Shashank grabbed headlines last year during the auctions when the middle-order batter was acquired by the Punjab Kings, who mistook him for another player. Although the Punjab-based franchise didn't enjoy much success last season, Shashank was one of their best performers, scoring 354 runs in 14 matches, including an unbeaten 68-run match-winning knock against the Kolkata Knight Riders to chase down 262.

Ahead of the next season, Shashank was one of the two players alongside Prabhsimran Singh to be retained ahead of the auction, with the Chattisgarh player being retained for ₹5.5 crores. On being one of the leadership prospects for the side, Shashank said (via News18):

"Honestly, I don’t know much about it. I have been leading in the DY Patil T20 tournament for five years and touchwood, I’m doing good so far. Even for Chhattisgarh, if the management considers me capable of leading the side, I would accept it happily. I feel that I have the ability to lead a side and win a championship."

"Similarly, if Punjab Kings want to try me as captain, I will definitely grab that opportunity with both hands and make proper use of it. I will be grateful but not expecting anything. However, the responsibility on my shoulder doesn’t change at all. Be it an uncapped player last year or an uncapped retention now, the job is to go out and give my 110% and make the team win," he added.

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"It felt really good when it became official on Diwali" - Shashank Singh on being retained by PBKS

Punjab Kings let stars like Arshdeep Singh, Sam Curran and Liam Livingstone walk. On being one of the two retentions, Shashank, via News18, said:

“It felt really good when it became official on Diwali. I got a call 2-3 days before the announcement. It felt really good as they considered me capable enough to retain. They had that faith in me that I can do well for this team next year.

“My mom and dad were the most relieved because of the amount of hard work they have done for me, hardly anyone else would have done so. I was quite relieved and had a lot of fun. Diwali was really good" he said

Punjab Kings enter the auction with a total of ₹110.8 crore purse, the most for any franchise. They will have 23 slots to fill for the next edition of the IPL.