CHENNAI: When Chennai Super Kings fetched a staggering £14.2 million for new faces Prashant Veer and Kartik Sharma at the IPL mini-auction last December, things turned around. The two even became the most expensive uncapped Indian players ever signed in the IPL auction.A franchise known for its “Dad’s Army” brand and stability has seen a clear shift of late. Injuries have also played their part but it is hard to overlook the commotion in the team, youngsters like Ayush Mhatre, Urvil Patel, Prashant and Kartik have all hit the ground running.The franchise traded its signature settled core for a long-term investment, betting that blooding these youngsters now will pay dividends for years to come.
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Bhuvneshwar Kumar on RCB loss: ‘It was just an off day’CSK batting coach Michael Hussey acknowledged that the team is in a transition phase.“It’s a pretty new team in a lot of ways. You know, there’s quite a few new players that have come in, some good young talent that we want to showcase in some games as well. Ideally, we’d like to settle on 11 or 12 that we’re very happy with and then we’ll just let those guys really grow into their roles together, hopefully we’ll win together, hopefully we’ll have the confidence to stick with the same the kind of team that comes through.”This approach is evident in how they persevered with 20-year-old Kartik.The wicketkeeper-batsman has endured a lean run in his first five games.Still, Hussey remains confident he is just one game away from finding his stride.“He’s a big talent; I hope to see him here at CSK for another five, 10 years. He’s ambitious and wants to do well. We’d like to give him as many opportunities as possible and watch him really grow into that CSK jersey,” he said.
