CSK's Bold Auction Strategy: Uncapped Indian Stars Prashant Veer & Kartik Sharma Bagged for Record Sums

The winds of change have been blowing in Chennai Super Kings since their debacle in the last Indian Premier League in April–May. But what happened in the auction room in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday was nothing short of a desert storm.

Some of the fans, used to the slow-and-steady CSK over the last 18 seasons, described this as a “tectonic shift”.The five-time champions, who built an IPL empire with the spine of experience and a splattering of talent, splurged `28.4cr (`14.2cr each) on two uncapped Indian players — Prashant Veer and Kartik Sharma.Both are the highest amounts that have been shelled out for Indian players who have not made their international debut.

And coming from CSK, it left the auction room and the cricket world stunned in equal measure.Let’s go back to 2018 to give you a perspective as to why this is such a watershed moment in the history of the franchise. Seven seasons ago, CSK were coming back from a two-year ban and had to build a team virtually from scratch.There were players such as Shubman Gill, Prithvi Shaw and a few others — fresh from their U-19 World Cup success — available in the auctions. But the franchise, under the strict instruction of captain M S Dhoni, went in a completely different direction. One after the other, they roped in seniors who were well into their thirties. The inclusion of the likes of Shane Watson, Ambati Rayudu, Harbhajan Singh, Kedar Jadhav, Imran Tahir, Faf du Plessis led to cricket aficionados and even fans naming the team as ‘Dad’s Army’.

While most were skeptical of the success of the team, Dhoni maintained that “you can’t buy experience from the market” and promised good things. And over the next six years, three titles proved how right MSD was.When CSK went into the big auction of 2025, their recruitment followed a similar pattern with the likes of Devon Conway, Deepak Hooda, Rahul Tripathi, along with Dhoni and

Ravindra Jadeja

forming the backbone of the team.But the team started disastrously and after their fifth straight defeat, coach Stephen Fleming, who was adamant till then that the team would fight back, accepted that they got it wrong in the auction.Firepower, that has become part and parcel of modern-day T20 cricket, was woefully missing in the team. Dhoni’s tried-and-tested formula of banking on experienced players to win games at the death seemed a completely outdated idea, forcing CSK management to do a rethink.Midway through the season, they roped in youthful talent such as Ayush Mhatre, Urvil Patel and Dewald Brevis who made a positive impact. And that made CSK turn a new leaf.While roping in Veer and Kartik on Tuesday for such high prices was the icing, we had seen a significant shift in approach even before the auction. The decision to trade an old warhorse such as Ravindra Jadeja and proven player Sam Curran for Sanju Samson clearly showed that they wanted to go in a different direction.It’s the scouts and the data analysts, led by A R Srikkanth, who provided CSK with all the information about these two rookies, who have been playing well in state franchise leagues.

Captain Ruturaj Gaikwad, too, was on the same page, and that’s why CSK chose not to go for a senior player such as Venkatesh Iyer, who would surely have been a tempting option for the erstwhile top brass.Kasi Viswanathan, the CEO of CSK, explained the reasons behind going for youth. “We have noticed that the game is changing and the scouts and analysts gave us a detailed report about these players. We had seen them in practice games as well … As for a guy like Veer, we needed a like-for-like replacement for Jadeja and the 19-year-old was on top of the list.

He bowls left-arm spin, bats well at No. 7 and is a superb fielder,” Viswanathan said.But just as there was a lot of skepticism in 2018 when CSK chose to go for experience ahead of youth, fans are trying to figure out whether a complete change in approach will work this time. The last two seasons have been extremely poor for CSK, with the team failing to make the knock-out stages on both occasions.Former CSK player R Ashwin, who retired earlier this year, says “patience is crucial to see players like these succeed”.

“Fans must understand that IPL is a different beast. The pressure is so much that it is not always easy for a youngster to come in and perform right away. No doubt, Kartik and Veer are very good players, but fans should understand that price tags don’t guarantee success. Don’t expect them to hit Hazlewood and Starc for sixes with 20 to get off two.

It can happen once or twice, but when the pressure is less, it is easier for the youngsters to flourish,” Ashwin said on his YouTube channel.Those who follow domestic cricket closely feel players such as Kartik and Veer could be long-term investments. But there’s still a long way to go. The pressure of the IPL makes or breaks a player and the price tag only adds to the theatre. It’s on CSK to keep them insulated from the pressure and provide them with the environment to flourish so that the agony of the last two years becomes a forgotten chapter.