The five-time IPL champions have made a significant change to their scouting strategy.
With the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy (SMAT) 2025 out of the way, the domestic cricket focus no shifts to the Vijay Hazare Trophy, which is scheduled to commence from December 24. All the states have been declaring their squads for the 50-over tournament, with the focus being on star players that are expected to play in the tournament. However, a CSK recruit will miss the tournament.
Chennai Super Kings (CSK) recruit Kartik Sharma has not been named in the squad for Rajasthan, and will miss the tournament due to an injury. The youngster, who is quickly making his name in India’s domestic circuit missed the later stages of the SMAT 2025 as well due to an injury – for which Mukul Choudhary was named as his replacement.
That being said, the youngster sustained a minor finger injury which led him to miss the last two matches of the 20-over tournament. However, Kartik is expected to recover from the injury in a matter of 15-20 days, which means that he should be named in the Rajasthan side in the midst of the tournament. The youngster is already one of the most celebrated players in the domestic circuit.
CSK got their hands on the youngster for a sum of INR 14.20 Crores, which speaks volumes about the ability that the player has displayed. His stats in domestic cricket speak for themselves. In 12 T20s till now, Kartik has scored 334 runs with an average of 162.92, and is proving to be a valuable wicketkeeper-batter for Rajasthan.
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Looks unlikely in the near future. Though it has got nothing to do with his ability, the youngster is not expected to make the cut into CSK’s playing XI from the first game. The Men in Yellow have acquired the services of Sanju Samson, who will be their first choice wicketkeeper ahead of Kartik Sharma. That being said, the youngster will surely get his chances in the coming years.
Kartik Sharma’s cameos in the middle-order have helped his domestic side in the SMAT 2025. In five matches that he played, he scored 133 runs at a strike-rate of 160.24. That strike-rate in the middle-order would not be an easy feat to replicate in the Indian Premier League (IPL). Former England batter Kevin Pietersen also expressed curiosity about the youngster on his social media handle.
The biggest strength for the 19-year-old is his ability to play a fearless brand of cricket, which has become a pre-requisite for a place in the shortest format. The middle-order wicketkeeper-batter can play in the ‘V’ as they call it, and can take the bowlers to the cleaners at will. With CSK having acquired him and Prashant Veer for a huge sum, the young duo will surely be looked at as bright future prospects.
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