Follow UsIt would have been baptism by fire for 17-year-old Ayush Mhatre, who was yet to make his T20 debut, but the Mumbai youngster showed no nerves during his 15-ball 32-run knock. He was abuzz with a different kind of energy around a team that lacked spunk in taking the bowlers on.
Ayush Mhatre was signed as a replacement for Ruturaj Gaikwad after the latter was ruled out of the tournament with an elbow fracture. Having a young blood in the side ensured a different level of approach for the MS Dhoni-led side - something CSK have struggled with in the ongoing year. Coach Stephen Fleming admitted that while adding they were very impressed with Mhatre’s batting during the trials.
"We've had a few players through at our training sessions and he was a player that stood out. It's still very hard when you're in a nets situation to get a true gauge of a player, but from a skillset, he was very impressive and a very composed young man, which is often just as important,” Fleming said at the post-match press conference on Sunday.
“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,” he added.
Mhatre made his first-class and List A debut for Mumbai last season, and he was quite impressive in both the Ranji and Vijay Hazare Trophies. He became the youngest batter to score 150-plus runs in List A cricket (181 off 117 balls against Nagaland).
He also scored a half-century on his Ranji Trophy debut, hitting 52 off 71 balls against Baroda. The 17-year-old has an impressive record in List A cricket, having smashed 458 runs in seven innings at an average of 65.42 and a strike rate of 135.50.
"It's probably the position we are in and with the injury to Rutu and the form of others made it quite an easy decision to get him in there," Fleming said.
"The stage seems big but it's one that's familiar. We banked on him being comfortable with his surroundings at Wankhede and he certainly looked all that, so it was an impressive debut."