Karthik Sharma scored unbeaten 54 runs (Photo: PTI)
Karthik Sharma: 20-year-old batsman Karthik Sharma dominated Chennai Super Kings’ victory against Mumbai Indians. Karthik, who played as an impact player in the middle order, played the biggest innings of his IPL career. After playing this brilliant inning, he celebrated like Dhoni. His brilliant success on the IPL pitch, the match winning innings played for CSK was not his only victory. In fact, his father Manoj Sharma also won, who was in debt to make his son a cricketer.
Father became a cricketer after drowning in debt
Karthik’s dream of playing in IPL is the result of his father’s sacrifice. To make his son a cricketer, father Manoj Sharma even sold his shop. He had incurred a debt of Rs 27 lakh. He used to teach tuition to support his family. But, now the father’s chest is filled with joy due to the success of his son, apart from this, the captain and coach of Chennai Super Kings are also happy about Karthik Sharma.
Karthik’s biggest innings on IPL pitch
Karthik Sharma got a bid of Rs 14.20 crore in the mega auction of IPL 2026. With a bid of so much money, he became the most expensive uncapped player of IPL. From his debut in IPL 2026 till the first 5 matches he played, Karthik Sharma failed miserably, it seemed that CSK’s bet on him backfired. He had only 58 runs in the first 5 matches. But in the sixth match against Mumbai Indians, he scored unbeaten 54 runs in 40 balls with the help of 4 fours and 3 sixes and returned after leading his team to victory with captain Ruturaj Gaikwad ahead of the target of 160 runs.
Celebrated like Dhoni
Karthik Sharma celebrated his biggest innings and his first half-century played on the IPL pitch with great pride in the style of Dhoni. He did the gun celebration just like Dhoni did after playing a big innings in the initial days of his career.
Nickname for our beloved Kartik?
Baby Dhoni? Kar-thick shot Sharma? pic.twitter.com/FBefghXGpC
— Abhinav MSDian™ (@Abhinav_hariom) May 3, 2026
Credit given to Dhoni for the innings
After his first half-century on the IPL pitch, Karthik Sharma also said that the reason behind his innings was the advice given by Mahi Bhaiya. He told that Mahi Bhaiya had advised to play just by looking at the ball. Try to time the ball correctly and not hit it too hard.
From coach to captain… everyone became a fan of Karthik.
CSK coach Stephen Fleming also became a fan of Karthik Sharma after seeing his innings against Mumbai Indians. He described Karthik as a good player. Captain Ruturaj Gaikwad said that Karthik has the identity of a six-hitter but he feels that there is another aspect to his game, which was visible against MI. By landing at number 4, he has given balance to the team. Hopefully he will do even better in the coming years.
