Chennai Super Kings have named 17-year-old Ayush Mhatre as the replacement for injured captain Ruturaj Gaikwad in the ongoing Indian Premier League 2025 season. Gaikwad, who suffered an elbow fracture, has been ruled out of the tournament. In a bold move, CSK has chosen not to pursue experienced players like Prithvi Shaw or Mayank Agarwal. Instead, the franchise has shown faith in young Mhatre, who made his debut against Mumbai Indians in a high-stakes clash on Sunday. Mhatre replaced Rahul Tripathi in CSK's playing XI, a change confirmed by CSK skipper MS Dhoni during the toss.
Mhatre was born just months before Dhoni first captained India in the 2007 T20 World Cup. Now, the teenager will play under Dhoni’s leadership for the five-time IPL champions. He made his first-class debut for Mumbai in the 2024-25 Irani Cup and has scored 504 runs in nine matches at an average of 31.50, including two centuries. His performances in the 2024-25 Vijay Hazare Trophy made headlines, where he scored 458 runs in seven innings at an average of 65.42. His highest score was 181 against Nagaland, making him the youngest player in List A cricket to post a 150-plus score. The previous record was held by Yashasvi Jaiswal. In addition to his batting, Mhatre also bowls off-spin and took seven wickets in the Vijay Hazare Trophy with an economy rate of 4.51.
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Despite his success in the longer and one-day formats, Mhatre has yet to make his debut in professional T20 cricket. He was not included in Mumbai’s squad during the last Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy season. He also featured in the Indian Under-19 team during the 2023 U-19 Asia Cup, where he scored 55 runs in three innings. Mhatre is also expected to be part of the India squad for the 2025 Under-19 World Cup. He was picked for the Mumbai Under-23 side in the CK Nayudu Trophy in December 2023 at the age of 16. Many have compared his batting style to his idol Rohit Sharma.
The youngster’s rise has come after years of hard work and long hours of travel. He hails from a modest background in Virar, a suburb on the outskirts of Mumbai. According to the media reports, ESPNcricinfo, Mhatre used to travel nearly 80 kilometers one way by train to reach Churchgate for training at Mumbai’s famous maidans.
According to the reports, CSK had shown interest in Mhatre even before the 2025 IPL mega auction. However, they waited until now to add him to their squad. Mhatre was selected after trials in Chennai, where he competed against other potential candidates, including Gujarat's Urvil Patel and Uttar Pradesh's Salman Nizar.
At 17 years and 278 days, Mhatre became the youngest-ever player to represent CSK in the IPL. His record debut came just one day after 14-year-old Vaibhav Suryavanshi became Rajasthan Royals' youngest-ever player.
