'I don’t know who gave them the suggestion to pick these two' - Former India Star Slams CSK’s ₹14 Crore Auction Calls in IPL 2026

After three consecutive defeats in IPL 2026, Chennai Super Kings (CSK) find themselves under immense pressure. Former India batter Subramaniam Badrinath has been very critical of the franchise's decisions at the auction, especially their significant investment in uncapped players Kartik Sharma and Prashant Veer.

Both players were bought for INR 14.20 crore each by CSK at last year's mini-auction, and their returns so far have been dismal. Kartik Sharma has played three matches to date and has only managed 25 runs with a strike rate of 119.04, while Prashant Veer played in the game against Punjab Kings, scoring a mere six runs off seven deliveries and failing to contribute with the ball. In the game against RCB, Prashant scored 43 off 29 on a batting surface but could not drive his team through, neither he was given the bowl in the first innigs.

Badrinath questioned the thought process behind the acquisitions of these two and did not mince his words in his assessment Badrinath stated on his YouTube channel:

" I don't know who told CSK that these two would be the kind of players to pick them up...I will be surprised if they scored runs. Even if they scored runs it will be flukes. These two players are never going to play a proper cricketing shot and score you runs I feel they are drastically overpriced." 

He felt that both players were exposed to quality bowling and found it tough to get adjusted to the pace and pressure that they encountered.

"To be honest, both are getting exposed. When you pay close to 14 crores for each of them it is an outright blunder from the franchise. It's a massive gamble. If they were to fire, it would have been celebrated. When they didn't, it would be very, very ugly. It has turned out that way. Arshdeep Singh and Bartlett, they don't have time... Before Prashant Veer would get his bat to the ball, it would just whip past him. Truth is that they haven't faced any such bowling in their careers."

Team Selection Under Scanner

Badrinath was also critical of the team selection process, stating that Jamie Overton, who performed well in the opening game, was left out and Prashant Veer was selected in the team but wasn't given an opportunity to bowl even one over.

Badrinath said:

"MS Dhoni is always talking high about process. They had two foreign players this match. Why did you go ahead with bringing Prashant Veer in for Jamie Overton, who did well...Overton bats and bowls, but you bring Prashant in and not give him a single ball to bowl. Which process are you following? What is Prashant Veer in the lineup for? Do you think he will score a 20-ball 50 and win you a game from the lower order... It's not possible to understand anything..."

He also raised a question about why Akeal Hosein was not part of the 15-man squad which narrowed the options for CSK.

He concluded:

"The auction part is over, that's a ship that has already sailed. You've got to get the process correct. You drop a player like Jamie Overton, who did well in the last game and you bring in Prashant Veer and don't bowl him a single over, what process? You can't make any sense of this process... You didn't even include Akeal Hosein in the 15, so even if you were wanting to bring him in as an Impact Player, it wasn't possible." 

CSK would be looking to bounce back swiftly against Delhi Capitals in their next home game at M.A. Chidambaram, Chennai.