Who is Kartik Sharma, uncapped wicketkeeper who was picked for Rs 14.2 crore by CSK in IPL 2026 auction?
Kartik Sharma triggered a massive bidding war at the IPL auction at the Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi today as CSK, KKR and SRH tried to secure his services. Eventually, CSK managed to bag him for Rs 14.2 crore. Here's all you need to know about him:
Kartik Sharma triggered a massive bidding war at the IPL 2026 auction before being snapped up by Chennai Super Kings (CSK) for a huge amount of Rs 14.2 crore. He is a wicketkeeper-batter and plays for Rajasthan as Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) tried to secure his services. However, CSK were adamant at getting him into the squad and successfully managed to do so in the end.
Kartik is a middle-order batter and has showcased his power-hitting skills in domestic cricket as well. In the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, he played five matches and scored 133 runs at a brilliant strike rate of 160.24 and can prove to be a superb finisher for CSK in their line-up.
Even though the numbers aren't strong enough in SMAT, Kartik is known as a six-hitting machine, but according to ESPNCricinfo, he is currently injured. However, he plays spin well and had taken down Sai Kishore and Shreyas Gopal down in SMAT.
As far as Kartik Sharma's T20 career is concerned, he has amassed 334 runs at a strike rate of 164, smashing 28 sixes already in his short career.
CSK shell out massive amounts on uncapped player
Chennai Super Kings were quite at the start of the IPL 2026 auction but they were extremely active once the set for the uncapped players got underway. They won the bidding war for Prashant Veer as well, splurging a staggering amount of Rs 14.2 crore. In short, they secured two most expensive uncapped players in the history of IPL - Prashant and Kartik.
Apart from these two uncapped players, CSK secured West Indies all-rounder Akeal Hosein for his base price of Rs 2 crore which can also be called a steal pick given the fact that he bowls in the powerplay and can also tonk the ball down the order.