Chennai Super Kings (CSK)’s young all-rounder Prashant Veer has revealed the first advice MS Dhoni gave him was not about cricket, but finance. Recruited for a record INR 14.20 crore in the IPL 2026 auction,
Veer was told by the CSK and India legend to save the huge amount and ‘not spend it unnecessarily’.
“Right now, we haven’t spoken much about cricket. He told me to save my money and not spend it unnecessarily,” Veer told Sportstar.
The all-rounder came into the auction at the base price of Rs. 30 lakhs and ended up as the joint-highest paid uncapped player in the tournament’s history. A middle-order big-hitter, Prashant has played only nine recognised T20s, scoring 112 runs at a strike-rate of 167.16. He also bowls left-arm spin, and has 12 wickets to his name at an average of 16.66 so far in his career in the shortest format.
His signing, alongside that of wicketkeeper Kartik Sharma for the same price, felt like CSK’s attempt to future proof the squad, with Ravindra Jadeja already traded to Rajasthan Royals and Dhoni himself probably playing his last season.
But Veer isn’t focussing on that.
“First of all, I have to do what I know, what I have practised and what brought me here. If I think I have to take his place, there will be a lot of pressure because what he has done for the franchise or the Indian team is not easy to do. Right now, I’m just focusing on my game,” he said.
He needed some time to get used to CSK’s practice intensity, too.
“It’s my first IPL, so I have never had practice sessions like this before. The environment and the intensity here are different, so it takes a little time to get used to it,” Veer said.
CSK begin their campaign against Jadeja’s new team, Rajasthan Royals, on March 30.
