Subramaniam Badrinath on Prashant Veer, Karthik Sharma: 'I don't know who gave the suggestion to pick these 2': Ex-CSK batter slams think tank for 'overpriced' buys

Former Chennai Super Kings (CSK) batter Subramaniam Badrinath has heavily criticised the think tank for spending Rs 14.2 crore each on uncapped players Prashant Veer and Kartik Sharma at the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 mini-auction.

19-year-old wicketkeeper-batter Kartik has registered scores of 18 and 1. All-rounder Veer made his IPL debut against Punjab Kings (PBKS) and remained unbeaten on six runs from seven balls. Then, he did not get to bowl a single over as PBKS chased down 210 in the penultimate over.

Badrinath wonders who gave the suggestion to pick the uncapped duo. He feels that the uncapped players are overpriced.

"I don't know who gave CSK the suggestion to pick these two. I will be surprised if they score runs. Even if they do, it'll be only through a fluke. I don't trust these two playing proper shots and scoring runs. I think they are tremendously overpriced," Badrinath said on his YouTube channel.

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"I am sorry to say that both are getting exposed. By giving both over 14 crores, CSK made a massive blunder. It was a huge gamble. If they fired, it would have been celebrated. But if they didn't fire, it would look like a very, very bad move, and that's what is happening now. When Arshdeep Singh and Bartlett were bowling, they didn't seem to have any time. Before Prashant Veer could even lift this bat, the ball was flying past him. The truth is, they've never faced this kind of bowling in their lives."

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Overton benched, Hosein nowhere to be found

In the absence of Dewald Brevis, CSK played with two overseas players in their lineup. Jamie Overton was dropped despite his crucial 36-ball 43 in the previous game to save a batting collapse whereas Akeal Hosein is yet to make his CSK debut. Bardinath feels confused by the decision to bench Overton and not naming Hosein on the list of impact players.

"MS Dhoni is always high on processes. They played two foreigners in this match. You brought in Prashant Veer for Jamie Overton, who did well in the last game. Overton bats and bowls, and you replace him with Prashant and do not give him a single over. What kind of process is this? Why did you bring Prashant Veer into the lineup? Do you think he's going to score a 20-ball 50 down the order and win you a game? It's impossible to understand their thinking," said Badrinath.

"The auction was bad, but that ship has sailed. At least with what you have, get the processes right. You make a player who did well in the last match, Jamie Overton, sit. And then you don't bowl Prashant Veer. It's impossible to understand what CSK are doing. You didn't even name Akeal Hosein in your 15 to even try to bring him in as the Impact Sub."

CSK are currently at the bottom of the points table. The Ruturaj Gaikwad-led side's next challenge is an away game against defending champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) on April 5. Meanwhile, there is no word on when Brevis and Dhoni will be fit to play.