Ayush Mhatre appears to be a promising T20 cricket player despite only being 17 years and 292 days old.
Ayush Mhatre appears to be a promising T20 cricket player despite only being 17 years and 292 days old. He possesses the power required for contemporary T20 batting, beautiful strokes, and the ability to strike the ball anywhere on the ground. However, Mhatre’s maturity and composure—qualities he initially observed during trials and has since witnessed in action during the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025—were what most impressed Chennai Super Kings (CSK) head coach Stephen Fleming. “He is talented. His hand-eye coordination is good. His swing is lovely and smooth. He is combative. Fleming described Mhatre in the post-match news conference as having “everything that we like about a modern-day T20 player.” However, it’s the temperament and the ability to perform both in a trial and on the main stage that I find most important. I’m particularly impressed with that,” he continued.
“It’s one thing to have a lot of shots, but to be able to execute that game plan on a big stage in front of some of the biggest players in the world is what I admire,” he stated.Mhatre has been one of CSK’s few bright spots throughout a difficult season. Ruturaj Gaikwad, the team’s ailing captain, was replaced by him when he was sidelined after five games because of an elbow injury. Mhatre got 32 runs off of 15 balls in his first match against the Mumbai Indians (MI), both for CSK and in T20 cricket in general. He then defeated Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) with a 30 off 19.
Then he made history on Saturday by being the third-youngest player to strike a fifty in IPL history with an incredible 94 off 48 balls against Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB). Despite CSK’s defeat, Mhatre’s performance demonstrated that he is a talent to keep an eye on going forward.”It’s sometimes hard to explain, but there’s just a quality around what he was doing,” Fleming explained.
“It’s early days, but we have been very impressed with his skills right from when he trialled and was with us at the early part of the season,” he explained.
Mhatre has fit in nicely with the CSK team despite being a new member of the squad and still quite young.
“We’ve always had a rather laid-back camp style. On the side, he has some Mumbai-born teammates. According to ESPNcricinfo, Fleming stated, “(Shivam) Dube, is one that has seen a fair bit of him.””It all boils down to his maturity. He blended right in. It’s simply the way he acts, not always what the group around him does,” he continued.
“He was excellent from the start, and the team felt completely at ease with him. “I hope it’s the beginning of a long relationship,” he said.
Two adolescents have lit up the IPL 2025 tournament just this week. Vaibhav Suryavanshi, 14, became the youngest player to reach a T20 hundred on Monday. Fleming is pleased by both their existing abilities and their bold approach.Fleming stated, “It’s amazing, really,” according to news sources
“Watching that unafraid approach is amazing. However, you also need to be skilled. And it’s very amazing that these young players can execute their skills against some of the world’s top bowlers,” he continued.
“Whether you are 14, 18, or 21 years old is irrelevant. We’ve witnessed some absolutely outstanding innings, especially from these two young players. It demonstrates maturity beyond their years, but I believe the skill set they display is really intimidating, especially for bowlers worldwide,” he said.
