India, Dec. 17 -- Kartik Sharma's INR 14.20 crore IPL moment looks like a lightning strike to the fans. In reality, it is more of a family's decade-long wager, funded by debt, sacrifice, and a stubborn refusal to let one injury end two careers.

For Chennai Super Kings, he is a young wicketkeeper-batter with upside. For him and his family, Sharma is proof that small-town grind can survive bad luck, broken equipment, and the kind of pressure that quietly breaks most dreams.

The emotional center of Kartik's story is his father, Manoj Sharma. Kartik grew up watching a man who had once chased cricket seriously, only for an injury to shut the door. What followed was a decision: if the father couldn't finish his own innings, he would build the...