Chennai Super Kings (CSK), a franchise known for backing and recruiting experienced names, took a different route by breaking the bank to acquire uncapped stars in the Indian Premier League (IPL 2026) auction. The five-time champions splurged a whopping INR 14.2 crores each to buy Prashant Veer and Kartik Sharma, making the duo the most expensive uncapped players in IPL history. In the process, they also broke Avesh Khan’s previous record of INR 10 crore, when Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) bought him at the IPL 2022 auction.
Following the auction, CSK CEO Kasi Vishwanathan was quizzed regarding the decision and what was the thought process behind the bids.
Kasi revealed on JioHotstar, “See you would have watched about CSK’s change of team last season with youngsters coming in. At that point in time we thought with the change in the type of cricket being played, we should also change the culture of our team by getting some youngsters into our team. Our scouting talent was workinf really hard and the two guys were very good and have a good future. Of course it’s a big stage playing in the IPL and we want to see how they shape up.”
Notably, this change was visible from last season where CSK’s veteran stars failed to deliver and they roped in young talents like Ayush Mhatre, Urvil Patel, Dewald Brevis as injury replacements who put up promising displays.
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With Ravindra Jadeja traded out and MS Dhoni in the twilight of his career, CSK decided to secure the future and not shy away from spending big.
Prashant Veer, who is a left-arm spinning all-rounder, can be touted as a future prospect to fill in the Ravindra Jadeja void in CSK. Like Jadeja, he is a middle-order batter and can also impact with his left-arm orthodox spin.
On the other hand, Kartik Sharma adds more options in the finisher’s role – a slot where MS Dhoni dominated in his prime days. Although CSK have traded in Sanju Samson in the wicketkeeper-batter role, he is primarily a top-order batter whereas Kartik can be a like-for-like replacement for MS Dhoni with his wicketkeeping abilities.
Furthermore, the 22-year-old has been in blistering form in the SMAT 2025 and can evolve into a key cog in the CSK setup if he can repay the management’s faith.
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