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Chennai Super Kings used Tuesday’s auction in Abu Dhabi to make the most decisive break yet from their reputation for valuing grey hairs above raw pace and youthful daring. Two uncapped hitters, Prashant Veer (20) and Kartik Sharma (19), went to CSK for INR 14.2 crore each – joint-record prices for players without senior caps – and head coach Stephen Fleming admits change was overdue.
“We might have been a little bit slow to evolve with it,” Fleming confessed. “Sometimes you can hang on to theories and philosophies because of past success but we identified that we needed to shift.”
Key facts first
• CSK bought Veer and Sharma for a combined INR 28.4 crore.
• The rethink began midway through IPL 2025, when Dewald Brevis, Ayush Mhatre and Urvil Patel added urgency to a mis-firing top order.
• A last-place finish in 2025 prompted deeper internal reviews.
• Ravindra Jadeja was traded out before the auction; Sanju Samson arrived in a move described as “succession planning”.
Why the sudden turn?
Fleming said the penny dropped when the franchise tried to rescue a stalling 2025 campaign by parachuting in Brevis, Mhatre and Patel. The trio’s uninhibited stroke-play briefly lifted scoring rates, even if it could not shift CSK from the foot of the table.
“As the game has evolved, we might have been a little bit slow to evolve with it,” he repeated, noting that the mid-season signings acted as proof of concept. “Only halfway through the [2025] tournament we had a big shift and you saw with the players we got in as reserves, there was a shift in what we needed to do.”
“‘T20 babies’ are coming”
A theme running through Fleming’s post-auction comments was the emergence of cricketers raised almost exclusively on the 20-over format. “I just wonder if we’re now seeing the product of T20 coming to the fore,” he said. “We witnessed at the start of last year, and certainly the year before that my view used to be that experience was going to win, but now you have this fearless athlete that’s been brought up on T20 cricket and has a skillset that’s mouthwatering, and they just have no fear about what environment they need to exhibit these skills.”
For those unfamiliar with the phrase, a “T20 baby” is shorthand within dressing rooms for youngsters who treat 140-plus strike-rates as a bare minimum and regard scoop shots as routine, not risky. Fleming reckons that mindset can unsettle seasoned pros. “Sometimes an experienced player can get caught up in himself, trying to work out where the game’s going and what’s going on. But these young players these days, they’re just very free and they only know one way.”
Inside the price tags
Paying top-drawer money for uncapped players remains a gamble. Veer’s auction footage – he launched three balls in a local league clean over the pavilion roof – did the rounds on social media but he is yet to face elite bowling. Sharma’s domestic numbers are strong, yet purely in limited-overs cricket. CSK believe the upside outweighs the risk, and they did have purse room after releasing several veterans.
Senior analyst Kartik Ganapathy, who has advised multiple IPL franchises, sees logic in the splurge. “If your metrics say a 19-year-old can already strike at 160 and his intent mirrors modern trends, why wait for an international debut?” he said. “The market will only get hotter.”
Jadeja out, Samson in
The auction followed another headline-grabbing move: long-time all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja exited in a trade that brought India wicketkeeper-batter Sanju Samson to Chepauk. Fleming called it “succession planning”, adding: “We were also looking at [the fact that] at some point MS will move on.” Samson, 31, is widely viewed as a possible heir behind the stumps whenever MS Dhoni finally calls time.
While Jadeja’s departure ends a storied CSK stint – four titles, innumerable direct hits – the coaching group felt the need for a fresh build. A senior figure privately admitted the dressing room had “gone a bit stale”.
Balancing optimism with caution
Youth alone does not secure trophies; CSK supporters have been reminded of that through lean years. Experienced heads such as Ruturaj Gaikwad, Deepak Chahar and Moeen Ali remain central. The task for Fleming and captain Dhoni is to blend staples like powerplay discipline and death-over nous with the new policy of unfiltered aggression.
There are financial constraints, too. A pair of 14-crore cheques leaves little room for errors elsewhere in the squad, particularly among specialist quicks. But Fleming feels the strategic risk is justified: “The faster [the game] gets, these young players seem to play better.”
Looking ahead
Training camps start in February, and early practice sessions will likely feature net bowlers tasked with yorkers and slower-balls aimed at testing Veer and Sharma. Whispers from the camp suggest fielding drills will also ramp up; the new recruits have reputations as energetic boundary riders, but proving that day after day in 40-degree heat is another matter.
CSK have, in effect, pressed the reset button. They have accepted that past formulas no longer guarantee future wins. Whether the “T20 babies” deliver instant returns or require patience, the franchise has at least acknowledged the winds of change. For a side castigated last spring for clinging to yesterday’s heroes, that admission alone feels noteworthy.
