When 17-year-old batter Ayush Mhatre walked out at number three in Chennai Super Kings (CSK) Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 match against Mumbai Indians (MI), there was a wave of curiosity over this newbie. Mhatre became the youngest cricketer ever to represent CSK, drawing attention considering the franchise’s preference for experienced players.
“What is so special about him?,” asked fans curiously. While those well-versed with Mumbai cricket would’ve certainly been aware of his capabilities, Mhatre put on a show at Mumbai’s Wankhede Stadium, giving the masses a taste of his talent. The 17-year-old accumulated 32 runs off 15 balls, leaving home fans stunned at this display of fearlessness. Not a single delivery seemed out of reach for Mhatre, who smashed runs for fun in front of his idol Rohit Sharma.
Dinesh Lad, who is the childhood coach of Rohit and Shardul Thakur as well as the current coach of the Mumbai U-19 cricket team, hailed the CSK batter’s fearlessness. “He is very confident like Rohit and extremely positive as well, which was certainly visible in his knock against MI. Rohit used to play in the same manner back when he was 15 as Ayush is playing right now,” said Dinesh in an exclusive interaction with TimesofIndia.com.
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What impressed you most about Ayush Mhatre’s performance?
“I noted Ayush’s talent and fluid stroke play when we first met back when he was 10 years old. He was very particular about coming on time even then, despite travelling from Nala Sopara, which is very far from Mumbai. Another aspect which shines through about Ayush is his hunger to get big runs, which has been a factor behind his rapid growth,” he added.
The CSK batter’s journey seems like a fairytale from a distance. However, it has certainly been nothing of that sort, as evident from an interaction with the player’s coach Prashant Shetty. Ayush has faced his fair share of struggle over the years, battling depression at one point as well as overcoming fitness issues. The one thing which has remained constant in the batter’s life during these periods of uncertainty has been the support of his father Yogesh Mhatre.
Who’s that IPL player?
“Ayush’s family is a middle-class household based out of Virar. His father Yogesh would unfailingly accompany him for matches while at the same time, juggle his responsibilities as a banker. Travelling for nearly six hours with a heavy kit bag daily for playing matches in Mumbai can be very exhausting and difficult. However, Yogesh sir has always been an extremely positive person who’s never uttered a single word of criticism for his son. He went to the extent of leaving his job as a banker a year back to devote more time to his son which is definitely a big sacrifice considering their family isn’t wealthy,” said Prashant.
Ayush’s first dream as a cricketer is to represent India in the U-19 World Cup. However, an unexpected blow last year momentarily seemed to derail his aspirations, leaving the CSK batter depressed and demotivated.
“Ayush wasn’t picked among the top-30 NCA players last year because he failed to perform in the inter-camp matches. He was in a very depressed sort of mentality at that point. We started off by working on his technique, resulting in a confidence boost. I motivated him by setting a target of 300 runs in the Vinoo Mankad Trophy. Ayush worked really hard during that period, travelling to different parts of Mumbai for matches as well as undergoing two practice sessions a day. He never looked back after getting a call-up for a local tournament called KACA, scoring runs freely. Being dropped also made Ayush even hungrier to score. He got 51 runs in the first match of the KACA but remarked later that he should have got a hundred. That day I realised that he has really matured as a cricketer because he could have easily been happy with the half-century,” said the cricketer’s coach.
“Ayush’s impressive performance in the KACA resulted in selection for the Irani Trophy, Ranji Trophy, Indian U-19 team, Vijay Hazare Trophy and now IPL. I have never seen a cricketer play so many tournaments at the age of 17. It is like a miracle. However, a major factor which helped him bounce back in that period of struggle was his mental toughness, work ethic and belief in his capabilities,” he added.
While Ayush put in the hard yards on the field, he also had to make a mental shift with regard to his diet in order to maintain the fitness levels necessary to excel. The cricketer’s coach indulged in a frank and conscious conversation over the necessity to cut out all forms of unhealthy food, putting his foot down with regard to the 17-year-old’s dietary habits.
“I told him, ‘If you want to play for India, you need to improve your diet and fitness more than anything’. If you compare his current fitness levels with what he looked like back in 2019/20, there is a huge difference. We had a very conscious conversation where I put my foot down and frankly said, ‘This won’t work. You have to change’. Ayush used to run and practice fielding on the beach. We started working on his bowling as well. Ayush wants to become an all-rounder. For achieving success, you have to sacrifice, isn’t it?,” stated the cricketer’s coach.
Ayush recorded the highest score in the Vijay Hazare Trophy 2024/25, smashing 181 off 117 balls in Mumbai’s match against Nagaland, drawing limelight towards his performances. Interestingly, MI and CSK were the two franchises who invited the 17-year-old batter for trials.
“Ayush was very happy after being signed by CSK as a replacement for Ruturaj Gaikwad. We had a conversation after the match against MI where he mentioned that the coaches had words of praise. Even Rohit has given him a couple of suggestions. I can assure two things: Firstly, he will definitely hit the ball if it is in his arc and secondly, he’ll stay grounded irrespective of fame,” stated Prashant.
Get the latest IPL 2025 updates on Times of India, including match schedules, team squads, points table and IPL live score for CSK, MI, RCB, KKR, SRH, LSG, DC, GT, PBKS, and RR. Don’t miss the list of players in the race for IPL Orange Cap and IPL Purple cap.
