From Dhoni to Kartik Sharma: Abhinav Mukund breaks down CSK’s ‘tectonic’ keeping shift

New Delhi: Former India batter Abhinav Mukund has pointed out a quirky pattern in Chennai Super Kings’ (CSK) IPL 2026 squad, observing that the five-time champions now have a wicketkeeper from each decade of age, teens, 20s, 30s and 40s.

CSK’s four wicketkeepers are 19-year-old Kartik Sharma, representing the teens; Urvil Patel in his 20s; Sanju Samson in his 30s; and veteran MS Dhoni in his 40s.

The Men in Yellow enjoyed a fruitful auction at the Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi, heavily backing youth as they look to assemble a future-ready outfit. Among the standout picks were youngsters Prashant Veer from Uttar Pradesh and Kartik Sharma from Rajasthan, who went for Rs 14.20 crore each, making them the joint-costliest uncapped players in IPL history.

Mukund felt CSK had made a significant “tectonic shift” in their philosophy and described the current roster as “a very different side”. Breaking down their auction approach, he said, “I think CSK have put together a pretty solid side. Their retentions earlier were always based on what had worked for them in the past, but now everything is out of the window. For 2026, it’s almost like a 30 per cent investment in wicketkeepers.”

“They now have one from every decade, one in his teens, one in his 20s, one in his 30s and one in his 40s. On a serious note, this is a complete reset for CSK. Just imagine the number of meetings they must have had before arriving at these decisions, because this is a legacy franchise built on one system, one belief, and strong player loyalty.

“Every player who has represented CSK has spoken about how much they love the environment. Now, there are players who have never experienced that system and are coming into it for the first time. This is a huge shift, a tectonic shift in CSK’s approach. This doesn’t look like the CSK team we’re used to seeing, with overseas openers, an international all-rounder in the middle, and a tall overseas fast bowler from Australia or South Africa. This is a very different CSK side,” he added.

CSK squad for IPL 2026: Anshul Kamboj, Ayush Mhatre, Dewald Brevis, Gurjapneet Singh, Jamie Overton, Khaleel Ahmed, MS Dhoni, Mukesh Choudhary, Nathan Ellis, Nood Ahmad, Ramakrishna Ghosh, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Sanju Samson, Shivam Dube, Shreyas Gopal, Urvil Patel, Akeal Hosein, Prashant Veer, Kartik Sharma, Dasun Shanaka, Aman Khan, Sarfaraz Khan, Matt Henry, Rahul Chahar, Zak Foulkes.

With inputs from IANS