Mumbai opener Ayush Mhatre, 17, has been roped in by Chennai Super Kings as a replacement for their skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad who was ruled out of IPL 2025 due to a fracture in his elbow. Mhatre was called up by CSK for a trial two weeks ago to gauge his batting in the nets and after Gaikwad’s injury, they have decided to bring in the youngster.
Mhatre has played nine first-class games for Mumbai, scoring two centuries and a half century. He also represented Mumbai in seven list A games in which he has a high score of 181 against Nagaland to go with 148 against Saurashtra during the Vijay Hazare Trophy. He will be joining CSK side soon, while it is not clear whether he will get a chance to play in the team right away.
1⃣8⃣1⃣ runs | 1⃣1⃣7⃣ balls | 1⃣1⃣ sixes | 1⃣5⃣ fours 💪💪
Watch snippets of Mumbai’s Ayush Mhatre’s record-breaking knock of 181 against Nagaland in the #VijayHazareTrophy in Ahmedabad, making him the youngest player to score 150-plus in men’s List A cricket 👌@IDFCFIRSTBank pic.twitter.com/VGyzBoLPW8
— BCCI Domestic (@BCCIdomestic) January 1, 2025
Mhatre made his debut as an opener for the Mumbai Ranji Trophy team last year in the Irani Trophy against Rest of India. Like many a cricketer from the city, he went through the hard yards. He would wake up at 4:15 am, catch the 5 am train from Virar – his home is 46 kilometres from the Mumbai downtown – to reach the famed Oval maidan for his practice sessions.
His aggressive batting style made the selectors fast-track him to the senior side. He was 13 when his local side Virar-Sainath Sports Club decided to elevate him to their senior team, where he took on older boys with ease.
It was his grandfather, a retired railway employee, who would drop him to Mumbai’s maidaans daily.
“I started to play when I was 6 but my real cricket started when I was 10,” Mhatre had told The Indian Express last year. “I got admission in Don Bosco High School in Matunga and it was my grandfather Laxmikant Naik (Nana) who took the responsibility to take me there every day. So in the morning, I used to go for practice in Matunga, attend school, and then go to Churchgate to attend another practice. My family used to tell my grandfather not to ruin my sleep but now, they too feel that my sacrifice is paying off.”
His father Yogesh had once lost his job, and Ayush is grateful for their support despite everything. “My father and mother never made me realise that there is some financial problem at home. Like if a bat is broken, then I didn’t ask for a new one. Even today my father travels with me on the local train so that if any verbal fight happens with someone, he will handle it, so that I don’t take any negativity when I’m going to bat,” he added. His father now works at the Vasai Corporation Bank as a clerk.
A Rohit Sharma fan, he has cut himself off from social media since last season, and his family has told him to keep things simple. He will now turn up for one of the great IPL franchises.
