News
Ambati Rayudu is not given to wild praise, yet he is happy to say it straight about Kartik Sharma. “Since he has come at No. 4 or No. 5, he has been batting exceptionally well,” the former India batter observed on ESPNcricinfo TimeOut. That is a fair summary of a fortnight in which the 20-year-old left-hander has finally begun to justify the INR 14.2 crore Chennai Super Kings invested in him last December.
Kartik’s IPL 2026 campaign began with a splutter – six visits to the crease, a top score of 18 and the odd anxious prod at a length ball. Then came 54 against Hyderabad, 41 in Delhi, a busy 20 in Kolkata and, on Friday night in Chennai, a compelling 71 from 42 deliveries against Lucknow Super Giants. Only Sanju Samson and Ruturaj Gaikwad have scored more for CSK this season; no one else in yellow has cleared the ropes more often than Kartik’s 14 sixes.
“I think it’s been exceptional. I think he was prepared for a lot of short bowling against a team that has good fast bowlers, that shows his preparation has been spot on,” Rayudu said. “His game against spin too has been quite exceptional in reading length. I just think he’s turning into a complete middle-order matter; especially for conditions at home in India, he is he’s looking very, very good.”
That Lucknow innings was the clearest evidence yet. Kartik ambled to 29 from 26 balls, looking tidy enough without frightening anyone. After the 12th over the mood changed. A slower ball outside off was met with a long stride and a lofted extra-cover six – the sort of risk that seems obvious only once it has sailed ten rows back. He reached fifty in 35 balls and added 21 more in a blur of pulls and drives before falling to Shahbaz Ahmed two balls after launching the spinner for 6, 4, 4.
There are still rough edges. Forty per cent of his deliveries faced this season have been dot balls, a figure CSK’s coaching group would like lowered. The counter-argument is his ability to hit a six every 12-13 balls, a premium skill on Chennai’s two-paced surfaces.
“He can hit sixes against both fast bowlers and spinners,” Rayudu noted. “His batsmanship will improve over time with confidence with experience. He’ll know his single options or double options on a certain pitch. Once he starts getting into those nitty-gritties, I feel the strike rate also will improve.”
That learning curve has been steep. CSK first used Kartik as a finisher at No. 6 or No. 7 – a hospital pass for a new player trying to find rhythm. The promotion to four and five, in theory a calmer spot to build an innings, has unlocked the range that made scouts salivate during last winter’s domestic season. In the Ranji Trophy he topped the six-hitting chart before smashing 11 in 83 balls during the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20s; the franchise’s analysts loved the intent, the senior pros loved the work ethic.
CSK are hardly short of batting: Gaikwad is quietly stacking runs, Samson is in that late-career sweet spot where everything looks a shade slower, and Mitchell Marsh’s 90 from 38 balls the other night reminded everyone how brutal he can be. Yet sides that win titles tend to discover an extra option just when plans threaten to unravel. If Kartik continues to absorb information as quickly as he is now, Rayudu’s hunch that he is “a fast-learner” may prove one of the gentler under-statements of the season.
For the moment, CSK will accept the untidy dots in exchange for the clean strikes over the ropes. Tournament cricket is rarely about perfection; it is more often about timing a surge. Kartik Sharma, belatedly but decisively, appears to have found his.
