IPL: Can the uncapped millionaires keep their feet on the ground?

Prashant Veer, Kartik Sharma, Aaqib Nabi Dar…these are but a few of the names which have created no less a stir than Cameron Green’s whopping Rs 25.20 crore price tag in the IPL mega auction last Tuesday. The price for a clutch of the young uncapped players, starting with Chennai Super Kings’ identical bids of a whopping Rs 14.20 crores each for Prashant and Kartik have left some serious questions in it’s wake.

The biggest conundrum, of course, is are they worth that much and whether these rookies, coming from the hinterland of India – can handle the pressure of expectations that this kind of money brings and keep their feet on the ground. While it’s the market forces that often sees freak deals in the mini auction as it offers a smaller pool of players that the franchises get to choose from, but some of them have been really over the top.

 Here’s a look at the top five uncapped Indian picks in Abu Dhabi: Prashant Veer (CSK, Rs 14.20 crores); Karthik Sharma (CSK, Rs 14.20 cr);  Aaqib Nabi Dar (Delhi Capitals, Rs 8.4 cr); Mangesh Yadav (RCB, Rs 5.20 cr) and Tejasvi Singh (KKR, Rs 3 cr). A cumulative figure of Rs 215.45 cr was spent by the 10 franchises to fill up the 77 spots available, of which only two overseas stars have bettered the price tags of Veer and Karthik Sharma – the highest paid Green and Sri Lankan slinger Matheesa Pathirana (Rs 18 cr).

Always known as pragmatic buyers, CSK’s decision to invest more than half their available purse of Rs 43.4 crores for Veer – a left-arm spinning allrounder and Karthik Sharma, a hard hitting wicketkeeper-batter, continues to be a talking point about the IPL fraternity. The five-time champions admitted that youth-first policy will be their way going forward as they look to shed the recent indifferent run which saw them finishing 10^th  last year.

After facing a lot of flak last year for not moving with the times, the CSK management were in no mood to let go the much talked duo on the auction table. ‘’ Yes, we tracked them and we went all out for them. We were clear that we needed to have them. In fact, it was the reason why we stopped bidding for Cameron Green,’’ remarked Kasi Viswanathan, the long serving CSK CEO.

What was the yardstick of spending a fortune behind such players, who at the end of the day, are very much a work in progress? Veer, whom the CSK is banking to become a successor to Ravindra Jadeja with same skillsets, was the Emerging Player in the UP T20 League scoring 320 runs at a strike rate of 155.34 and eight wickets. In the Under-23 tournament, he scored 376 runs and took 18 wickets to win the Player of the Tournament award.

Meanwhile, Kartik scored 133 runs in the just-concluded Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy at a strike rate of 160.24 while he has scored 334 runs in 12 T20 matches with a strike rate of 164, hitting 28 sixes. Aaqib, better known as the ‘Steyn gun of Baramullah,’ has taken 15 wickets in seven Mushtaq Ali Trophy matches and 29 wickets in the Ranji Trophy for Jammu & Kashmir so far, including three five-wicket hauls.

The rags-to-riches stories shows again as to how little-known state franchise leagues have become the breeding ground of some of the biggest names for the future, but not all of them can go on fulfil the early promise. While Mohammed Siraj, who was first signed up by SRH for a then princely Rs one crore, has gone on to be the country’s premier fast bowler – there are no lack of names losing their way in the trappings of cash and stardom.

Speaking to the National Herald, Joy Bhattacharjee, former Director of KKR sounded a word of caution for the youngsters about handling the money. As a backroom boy of the auction from the 2008 edition of IPL, Bhattacharjee said: ‘’A problem for the youngsters, coming from mostly underprivileged backgrounds, is how to handle the money. During my time, I had even organised sessions for them with investors so that they park it wisely. May be, the franchises can even think of paying these players half the amount now and keep the rest on Fixed Deposit for them till they are say 35 years. The rest of the money, hence, acts as a safety net for them.’’

Speaking to the Mid Day, Veer’s father Ramendra Tripathi – a school teacher – said: ‘’We always knew Prashant was hugely talented, but not in our wildest dreams did we expect 14.2 cr. Though we are very happy, I have told Prashant to remain humble and not be swayed by this sudden windfall and popularity, and focus solely on furthering his career.’’

 A simple piece of advice – which may work well for others of his son's ilk!