IPL 2026 will see uncapped Indian players Prashant Veer and Kartik Sharma be under spotlight after Chennai Super Kings (CSK) snapped them for Rs 14 crore each in last year\u2019s auction. \u201cThe biggest thing is how you handle pressure. The IPL is a tournament where you can be a hero one day, and fade away the next.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve seen so many players who earn huge money at an auction, but then don\u2019t perform the following season and don\u2019t even get picked again. I would want to see how a player like Prashant Veer, who has been paid in upwards of \u20b914 crore, performs under pressure when given an opportunity.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
\u201cEspecially in the last four overs, whether he is batting or bowling, when a breakthrough is needed and he is being attacked from both ends, how does he respond in that moment?\u201d said Pathan on JioStar.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
He also said part of succeeding in IPL for youngsters earning heavy paydays will be in how they deal with failure and bounce back in future. \u201cIf I were part of the management, I would also observe what happens after a player fails under pressure in a few matches.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
\u201cHow does he regroup, rebuild, and step back onto the field with confidence? Because if I\u2019ve invested such a big amount in a player at the auction, I obviously trust his ability, but along with that, attitude matters a lot too.\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Ex-India opener Aakash Chopra highlighted the off-field distractions that accompany the IPL\u2019s scale for which youngsters are never trained to deal with. \u201cWhat is truly unique about the IPL is something you don\u2019t experience when playing for your state, or even for India, because there you are surrounded by established superstars you can learn from, whereas here everything feels larger than life.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
\u201cHow does he regroup, rebuild, and step back onto the field with confidence? Because if I\u2019ve invested such a big amount in a player at the auction, I obviously trust his ability, but along with that, attitude matters a lot too.\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n
\u201cThe challenge is that players are never really trained to deal with all this. They are trained to play cricket, how to face the ball and handle pressure on the field, but not how to manage these distractions. During the IPL\u2019s eight to nine-week window, this becomes constant and can be overwhelming, so it needs to be handled very carefully,\u201d he added.<\/p>\r\n\r\n