Mumbai: In a development that sparks speculation that he could be included by the Chennai Super Kings at the last-minute for IPL 2025, Mumbai’s 17-year-old opener Ayush Mhatre was on Thursday called up by the franchise for trials at Chepauk in Chennai. Mhatre, who went unsold in the IPL mega auction last November in Jeddah, can only come in CSK as a replacement player in case of any injury/unavailability of a player.
Mhatre went to Chennai from Rajkot, where is currently at the BCCI’s National Cricket Academy’s zonal camp for Under-19 cricketers.
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“Yes, we’ve called him for trials. He has impressed our talent scouts,” CSK MD & CEO Kasi Viswanathan told TOI. Asked if there were any injuries in the CSK camp, he said, “No, if there’s any need, we’ll do that. We’re not picking anybody, it’s just a trial.”
CSK had asked Mhatre to report for trials in November last year too, just before the IPL auction.
The promising youngster enjoyed a fine debut season for Mumbai in 2024-25, scoring 458 runs in seven matches @ 65.42, with two hundreds and one fifty in the Vijay Hazare Trophy, and 471 runs in eight matches @ 33.64 with two centuries and one fifty, with top score of 176 against Maharashtra in the Ranji Trophy.
The teenaged batter has apparently impressed CSK’s top management and the talent scouts of the franchise.
With one win and two defeats in three matches, CSK are languishing at the seventh spot on the IPL points table.
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.
