Pujara impressed with Ayush Mhatre’s IPL debut for CSK as the teenager made everyone sit up and take notice.
Pujara impressed by the storming debut of Mumbai teenager Ayush Mhatre for CSK against Mumbai yesterday.
Mhatre was brought in as an injury replacment for Ruturaj Gaikwad. He took this opportunity with both hands as he blazed his way to a 15-ball 32.
During Sunday night’s IPL 2025 match between Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and Mumbai Indians (MI) at the Wankhede Stadium, 17-year-old Mhatre, who was also making his T20 debut, came in at number three and scored 17 runs off the first four balls he faced, including two sixes and a four. However, Mhatre, who represents Mumbai in local cricket, had impressed Stephen Fleming and MS Dhoni with his poise and skill during the tryouts before coming here.
“We’ve had a few players through at our trainings and he was a player that stood out,” Fleming said at the press conference after CSK’s loss to MI. “It’s still very hard when you’re in a nets situation to get a true gauge of a player, but from a skillset [point of view], he was very impressive and a very composed young man, which is often just as important. So both MS and I were very impressed with the way he held himself together for the trial. And then when the opportunity came up, we’ve obviously got a view to the future, and he was the name that was pretty easy to pick.”
“I think the shot down the ground [off his second ball] was extraordinary,” Aaron Finch said on ESPNcricinfo’s TimeOut. “That was nowhere near a half-volley, but he smacked it on the up through mid-off, [and then] he set up for the pull shot. Obviously looks like a very leg-side-dominant player just [going by] the way that he sets up, everything says that he wants to hit square on the leg side. There’ll be a few things for oppositions [to note] going forward but what a statement.”
Despite having little experience playing top-flight cricket, Mhatre’s “fearless” approach was what Cheteshwar Pujara found most impressive.
“If you are not well-prepared and you are nervous when playing your first game, you don’t get that confidence,” Pujara said on TimeOut. “But to do that – we say they are fearless but it’s not easy to be fearless when you’re playing your first-ever T20 game, that too at the highest level. To do that, I’m sure he’s done enough preparation. I haven’t seen his journey so far, I don’t know much about it, but the way he batted he seemed very confident. He’s played a lot of cricket in Mumbai and that’s definitely helped him.”