IPL auction: Windfall for 3 uncapped players, sons of teachers; Rajasthan keeper Kartik Sharma, UP allrounder Prashant Veer get Rs 14.2 cr each

All three were listed at base price of Rs 30 lakh and hit jackpots. Green became the most expensive overseas player when KKR bid Rs 25.2 crore for the Australian all-rounder.

I.C.Y.M.I

🚨 Joint-most expensive uncapped players in #TATAIPLAuction history 🚨

Prashant Veer 🤝 Kartik Sharma

🔽 Watch as they joined @ChennaiIPL for a whopping INR 14.2 Crore 💛#TATAIPL pic.twitter.com/JPndvLIUDV

— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) December 16, 2025

Kartik, son of a teacher who quit work to support his dream, hails from Rajasthan; Prashant’s father is a ‘Shiksha Mitra’, a contractual schoolteacher in Amethi earning Rs 12,000 a month; and Auqib’s father is an English teacher at a government school in Baramulla.

The previous record for the most expensive uncapped Indian was Rs 10 crore, for fast bowler Avesh Khan in 2022.

Prashant, hailed by CSK fans as a like-for-like replacement for Ravindra Jadeja as he, too, bowls left-arm spin and hits big, shared his dreamy feeling of watching the auction unfold.

“I was just hoping that someone would raise their paddle, it took me some time to realise that I have gone to CSK for Rs 14 crore. Sapna lag raha tha sab (it felt like a dream), I told Rinku (Singh) bhai ko pinch karo ek baar (pinch me once). My family has not seen so much money in their life, this will change things for good. What I will do with the money, that’s for my family to think about, not my job! I always wanted to play for CSK, especially under M S Dhoni. He too bats lower down the order like me, I had wished to go to CSK… Lagta hai Bhagwan ne sun liya, (God has heard my prayers),” he told The Indian Express.

Auqib Dar is all set to feature in the #TATAIPL 👌

The all-rounder joins @DelhiCapitals for INR 8.4 Crore 👏👏#TATAIPLAuction pic.twitter.com/RQ1tK7W2RF

— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) December 16, 2025

To chase his cricketing dream, Prashant left home early and moved to Saharanpur. His mother, a homemaker, became his emotional anchor, managing the household while nurturing an uncertain dream.

Kartik, too, has a similar story. Over a decade ago, his father, Manoj, quit his job as a teacher to nurture his precocious hitting capabilities. His mother, Radha, is an Angwanwadi worker. The family of five, which includes Kartik’s two younger siblings, are dependent on Radha’s meagre earnings and the support from relatives.

“I have always believed in his abilities. They call him the Sixer King in Rajasthan these days,” Manoj told The Indian Express on the eve of the auctions. His fiercest bidders, CSK and the Kolkata Knight Riders, reflected Kartik’s six-hitting exhibition in the trials. “The trials were amazing (for him). With KKR, he smashed 119 runs in 32 balls with 17 sixes. In Chennai, he smashed 97 in 42 balls,” the proud father recalled.

By December 2024, Kartik, who had made his senior debut for Rajasthan just 11 months ago, had become only the third Indian to record a century on their First Class and List A debuts. But it was relentless six-hitting on either side of the pitch that marked his steady rise through the age-group system from Bharatpur district.

J&K pacer Auqib Nabi’s story began far from packed stadiums — in classrooms. His parents dreamt of him becoming a doctor, but his passion for the game gradually won over his father, who turned into his biggest supporter.

“Back then, there was no formal coaching in Baramulla. Now, things have changed. So I played my first real red-ball cricket only after 19. I happened to accompany a friend for state trials when I was picked,” he had told The Indian Express earlier.

On Tuesday, the faith shown as a youngster was vindicated when he was bought by Delhi Capitals for Rs 8.4 crore after a bidding contest with other teams like Royal Challengers Bengaluru and Sunrisers Hyderabad.

Three talented cricketers, sons of teachers, have taken their biggest step yet into the limelight.