On a day when international stars Cameron Green and Matheesha Pathirana expectedly went for big money in the IPL mini auction in Abu Dhabi, it was three uncapped Indians, sons of teachers, who turned out to be the surprise package.
Rajasthan’s wicketkeeper-batter Kartik Sharma and Uttar Pradesh all-rounder Prashant Veer shattered the record for the most expensive uncapped Indian player ever signed at an IPL auction, netting Rs 14.2 crore each from Chennai Super Kings, while Jammu & Kashmir pacer Auqib Nabi fetched Rs 8.4 crore from Delhi Capitals (DC). All three were listed at a base price of Rs 30 lakh and hit jackpots.
Kartik is the son of a teacher who quit his job to support his dream. Prashant’s father is a ‘Shiksha Mitra’, a contractual schoolteacher in Amethi, earning Rs 12,000 a month, and Nabi’s father is an English teacher at a government school in Baramulla.
Some of the other players who also fetched big bucks included Mangesh Yadav (Rs 5.20 crore for Royal Challengers Bengaluru), Tejasvi Dahiya (Rs 3 crore for Kolkata Knight Riders) and Mukul Choudhary and Akshat Raghuwanshi to Lucknow Super Giants for Rs 2.6 crore and 2.2 crore respectively.
Rajasthan pacer Ashok Sharma – the current leading wicket-taker in the 2025-26 Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 Trophy – went to Gujarat Titans for Rs 90 lakh.
The previous record bid for an uncapped Indian was Rs 10 crore for fast bowler Avesh Khan by LSG in 2022.
Prashant, considered by CSK fans as a like-for-like replacement for Ravindra Jadeja as he also bowls left-arm spin and hits big, shared his feelings while watching the auction unfold.
“I was just hoping that someone would raise their paddle. It took me some time to realise that I have gone to CSK for Rs 14 crore. It felt like a dream. I told Rinku (Singh) bhai to pinch me. My family has not seen so much money in their life; this will change things for good,” Prashant told The Indian Express.
“What I will do with the money is for my family to think about, not my job! I always wanted to play for CSK, especially under MS Dhoni. He too bats lower down the order like me. God seems to have heard my prayers.”
To chase his cricketing dream, Prashant moved to Saharanpur, His mother, a housewife, became his emotional anchor, managing the household.
Parental sacrifice
It was a similar story for Kartik. In a bid to nourish his precocious hitting capabilities, his father Manoj quit his job as a teacher over 10 years ago. His mother Radha is an anganwadi worker. The family of five, which includes Kartik’s two younger siblings, have lived off Radha’s meagre earnings and the support from their relatives.
“I have always believed in his abilities. They call him the Sixer King in Rajasthan these days,” Manoj told The Indian Express on the eve of the auction. The interest from CSK and Kolkata Knight Riders was a result of Kartik’s six-hitting exhibition in the trials.
“The trials were amazing (for him). With KKR, he smashed 119 runs in 32 balls with 17 sixes. In Chennai, he smashed 97 in 42 balls,” the proud father recalled.
By December 2024, Kartik, who made his senior debut for Rajasthan just 11 months ago, had become only the third Indian man to record a century on his First Class and List A debuts. But it was relentless six-hitting on either side of the pitch that marked the steady rise of the youngster from Bharatpur district through the age-group system.
Nabi’s story began far from packed stadiums – in classrooms. His parents dreamt he would become a doctor, but his passion for the game gradually won over his father, who became his biggest supporter.
“Back then, there was no formal coaching in Baramulla. Things have changed now. I played my first real red-ball cricket only after 19. I happened to accompany a friend for the state trials where I was picked,” Nabi had told The Indian Express.
On Tuesday, the faith reposed in the youngster was vindicated when Nabi was bought by DC after a heavy bidding war with other teams like RCB and SRH.
Three talented cricketers, all sons of teachers, had taken their biggest step yet into the limelight.
Rajasthan’s Ashok is the son of a farmer, hailing from Rampura village near Jaipur. He trained under former state leg-spinner Vivek Yadav at Aravali Cricket Academy in the state capital and can touch speeds of 150 kph.