Mumbai: There was no luck for Odisha cricketers in Tuesday’s IPL mini auction held at Abu Dhabi’s Etihad Arena.
Swastik Samal, a right-hand batter, and medium-pacer Rajesh Mohanty were among 369 cricketers who looked forward to the auction, hoping to be purchased by one of the 10 teams for IPL 2026.
The Odisha players, both 25 years of age, were among 19 Indians added to the auction roster by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) at the eleventh hour.
However, their names didn’t come up for bidding on Tuesday.
On a day when Australian allrounder Cameron Green fetched a record bid of Rs 25.20 crore from Kolkata Knight Riders, and 77 players were sold, the limelight was stolen by a set of uncapped Indian players who struck it rich.
Few would have heard the names of Prashant Veer and Kartik Sharma before today. But by the time, the day’s action concluded around 9.45 pm, the duo had grabbed national headlines.
Both were acquired by Chennai Super Kings (CSK) at whopping prices of, hold your breath, Rs 14.20 crore each. It’s an IPL record for uncapped players.
Jammu & Kashmir allrounder Auqib Nabi had a big day, too, as Delhi Capitals roped him in for a hefty price of Rs 8.4 crore after seeing off spirited competition from Sunrisers Hyderabad.
Prashant Veer soars
The IPL teams had come fully prepared about the lesser-known Indian players, and knew who all to target hard. Prashant Veer was one of them.
Starting with a base price of Rs 30 lakh, it was Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) and Mumbai Indians (MI) who started the bidding. CSK joined in once MI pulled out. The price zoomed to Rs 4.2 crore, when Rajasthan Royals came in. Then Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) locked horns with CSK until the yellow brigade got him for Rs 14.2 crore.
A left-arm spinner who also bats left-handed, 20-year-old Prashant is from Uttar Pradesh. Many felt CSK went all out for him as a replacement for Ravindra Jadeja, the Team India allrounder they have traded to Rajasthan Royals.
Promising allrounder Prashant had a strong UPT20 season for Noida Super Kings this year, scoring 320 runs and picking up eight wickets in 10 matches. His strike rate of 155.34 caught the eye, and he followed that up with 112 runs in five matches in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, at a strike rate of 169.69.
Kartik Sharma in demand
Kartik Sharma, 19, is a wicketkeeper-batter from Rajasthan. He also went to the auction with a price of Rs 30 lakh, and soon found interest in MI and LSG.
As Mumbai dropped out, LSG and KKR tussled for Kartik. As the price went up to Rs 2.8 crore, CSK threw their hat into the ring. As the ‘war’ pumped up the bid past Rs 14 crore, KKR finally said enough is enough to signify ‘victory’ for CSK.
Known as Rajasthan’s six-hitting machine, Kartik is especially good against spin. He showed his prowess against experienced tweakers Sai Kishore and Shreyas Gopal in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. Kartik is also joint-highest six-hitter in the Ranji Trophy season.
An able hand with big gloves behind the stumps, Kartik is currently injured but CSK had no problems breaking the bank for the youngster.
