Facing MI in their IPL 2025 fixture on Sunday at the Wankhede Stadium, CSK handed a debut to 17-year-old Ayush Mhatre. He replaced Rahul Tripathi for the El Clasico clash. Mhatre was roped in after the injury to skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad. Gaikwad has been ruled out for the entire season. (MI vs CSK, IPL 2025 Live Score)

Chennai Super Kings batsman Ayush Mhatre during net practice.(Hindustan Times)

Earlier, Mhatre had been called for a trial to Chennai. It was also reported that CSK opted him as they preferred his aggressive batting approach, acquiring him for ₹30 lakhs.

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Ayush Mhatre shows his brilliance, makes IPL debut

Mhatre came to bat in the fourth over of the first innings after the wicket of opener Rachin Ravindra (5). He responded for CSK in the same over, hammering Ashwani Kumar for a four, and then back-to-back sixes in the final three balls. First, he whacked him past the non-striker’s end for a four, and then smacked him over deep midwicket boundary for a six. He ended the over with another six, this time pulled into the deep square leg stand, racing to 17 off four balls only.

Mhatre didn’t just stop there, and then took on Deepak Chahar in the next over, hitting him for a four. In the seventh over, he directed Chahar for a four in the first ball, and then faced back-to-back dots. Then, he again carved him for a four, past a diving Hardik Pandya near extra cover, and Chahar responded with a wide.

But calamity struck for CSK as Chahar bowled his delivery again, sending it short and into the wicket. Mhatre went for the pull shot, but skied it to long-on for a catch by Mitchell Santner. Despite departing early, he will be impressed with his quick cameo and so will the team management, as he registered 32 off 15 balls, including four fours and two sixes, at a stunning strike rate of 213.33.

Mhatre is a Mumbai-born cricketer, and made his debut at just 17 years and 278 days old, becoming CSK’s youngest-ever player in IPL history. He is a right-handed batter, who plays for Mumbai in domestic cricket.

Recently, CSK CEO Kasi Viswanathan also revealed that Mhatre was impressive during the trials and has been handpicked to fill in for Gaikwad.