When the gavel finally came down in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday night, two young Indian cricketers had their lives changed forever and Chennai Super Kings had quietly rewritten IPL history.
Prashant Veer, 20, from Uttar Pradesh, and Kartik Sharma, just 19, from Rajasthan, walked into the IPL 2026 auction as uncapped prospects with base prices of Rs 30 lakh. They walked out as the most expensive uncapped Indian players the league has ever seen, each snapped up by CSK for a staggering Rs 14.2 crore.
Never before had an uncapped Indian crossed the Rs 10 crore mark a figure last reached when Lucknow Super Giants paid that amount for Avesh Khan in 2022. CSK didn’t just cross it. They doubled down.
Prashant Veer’s Cricket History
The first shock came with Prashant Veer’s name. The left-arm spin allrounder has played only nine domestic T20 matches, but his performances across the UP T20 League, the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy and Under-23 cricket had clearly caught the eye. What began as routine bidding between Mumbai Indians and Lucknow Super Giants spiralled into a prolonged battle involving Rajasthan Royals and Sunrisers Hyderabad, before CSK finally stepped in and shut the door.
Kartik Sharma Past Life
Kartik Sharma, a wicketkeeper-batter known for his power-hitting, triggered another bidding war. Once more, MI and LSG opened proceedings. KKR entered. SRH pushed hard. And once more, CSK held their nerve all the way to Rs 14.2 crore.
Kartik’s numbers explain the excitement. In just 12 T20 games, he has scored 334 runs at a strike rate of 164, clearing the ropes 28 times. He is already known in scouting circles as a fearless finisher and is managed by JSW Sports, which also represents Olympic champion Neeraj Chopra.
CSK head coach Stephen Fleming later offered insight into why the franchise was willing to spend so boldly, he said, “Kartik Sharma, we had him last year and he did some trialing with us… Prashant Veer, given that we needed that kind of skillset… we identified him as a good talent going forward.”
Fleming acknowledged that the team’s thinking has evolved with the modern T20 game,”As the game has evolved, we might have been a little bit slow to evolve with it… We knew if we can get a strong core of local players I think your team’s in good shape.”
For Veer and Kartik, the auction wasn’t just about money it was validation. Two teenagers, with limited exposure but unmistakable promise, suddenly became symbols of how aggressively franchises are now betting on India’s domestic pipeline.
