IPL 2025: How 17-year-old Ayush Mhatre impressed MS Dhoni at CSK nets-OxBig News Network

Chennai Super Kings (CSK) head coach Stephen Fleming revealed how Ayush Mhatre impressed him and the stand-in captain MS Dhoni during the nets session ahead of his debut vs Mumbai Indians (MI). The 17-year-old was signed as a replacement for the injured Ruturaj Gaikwad and fast tracked his way into the playing XI for the ‘El-Classico’ of the Indian Premier League (IPL).

Mhatre looked set for the big stage as he took on Ashwani Kumar on just his second delivery and smashed him for a four and two sixes to put his fearless strokeplay on display. He played a quick-fire cameo of 32 (15) to revive CSK’s innings after a slow start. Following his impressive debut, Stephen Fleming revealed how the 17-year-old stood out in training and mentioned how his composure caught Dhoni’s eye.

“Yeah, so we saw, we’ve had a few players through at our trainings, and he was a player that stood out. It’s still very hard when you’re in a net situation to get a true gauge of a player, but, from a skill set, 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 a name that was pretty easy to pick,” said Stephen in the post-match press conference.

Mhatre was called up by CSK for their mid-season trials along with Urvil Patel from Gujarat and Salman Nizar from Kerala. The Mumbai batter was successful in impressing everyone with his skillset and earned a spot in the squad. Fleming also said that he was left in awe of his debut knock.

“Probably the position we’re in, and with the injury to Ruturaj and with form for others, it made it quite an easy decision to get him in there. And a stage that seems big, but it’s one that’s familiar. So we banked on him being comfortable with his surroundings, and he certainly looked all that, so it was an impressive debut,” he added.

Meanwhile, Mhatre’s impressive debut innings ended in vain as CSK lost to MI by nine wickets. After being put in to bat first, Chennai posted 176/5 in their 20 overs, riding on half centuries from Shivam Dube (50 off 32) and Ravindra Jadeja (53* off 35). In reply, Mumbai comfortably chased down the target in 15.4 overs as Rohit Sharma bounced back to form with his impressive 76* (45) while Suryakumar Yadav also scored a fiery 68* (30).