The 17-year-old scored a brisk 32 on IPL debut for CSK ©BCCI/IPL
He was just a nine-month-old toddler when the IPL was born on a hot April evening in 2008. Seventeen years later, on a similarly hot and humid night in Mumbai, he made his IPL debut – against Mumbai Indians, no less – and played with the poise and confidence of a seasoned 17-year veteran. A dream debut? That would be a gross understatement. It was a trailblazing start. Ayush Mhatre announced his entrance into the big IPL stage.
A drive through off-side (4), a flick over mid-wicket (6) and a pull over fine leg fence (6) – 17 runs off the first four deliveries he faced – and suddenly he seemed to have solved the dilemma of a proper replacement for Ruturaj Gaikwad, the sidelined captain of Chennai Super Kings. Three more fours in the next 10 deliveries and it appeared like it would be a fairytale start to a burgeoning career of a 17-year old. It wasn’t to be though; yet his knock was a banger.
MS Dhoni was all praise for the youngster’s effort. “He batted really well,” the CSK skipper said. “…and that’s the kind of approach that is needed where you play your shots and at the same time you pick your shots that are your strength and I feel right from the start, he went and played his shots and we also haven’t seen him much. So, it is a good sign for us at the top of the order that if he can keep playing the shots, it will become slightly easier for the middle and lower order.”
His 15-ball 32 bore the stamp of class, technique, and promise, and the shots were played with verve, vivacity, confidence, and above all, fearlessness. India T20 skipper Suryakumar Yadav rushed to congratulate him for the brief yet sparkling knock on debut. “That’s temperament,” says Sanjay Patil, chief selector of the Mumbai team. “That’s what stood out when I first saw him over a year ago. I knew then – we had unearthed a real talent.”
It was a game in the Kanga League – a tournament played during Mumbai’s rainy season on its iconic maidans – where Mhatre, the diminutive teenager from Sainath Sports Club in the far-off suburb of Virar, made his mark. On a “minefield” of a pitch, he scored 70-plus, and followed it up with another impressive knock of over 80.
“He was never in contention, not even on the radar. It was Ajinkya (Naik) who asked me to take a look at him. He scored over 70 on a minefield of a wicket at Shivaji Park Gymkhana. I went only because the MCA secretary – now president – insisted, and the moment I saw him, I knew there was something special. A selector looks for temperament first. Technique can be corrected or fine-tuned when a player is just 17. Consistency matters, of course, but it all starts with temperament. The drive he showed to carry his team to victory at just 16 was remarkable. I used to see that in Ajinkya Rahane,” said Patil.
He continued: “I had suggested his name to Raju Kulkarni, the chief selector at the time. He agreed, but for some reason, we couldn’t pick him then. Once I took over, I made it clear to my colleagues that he had to be selected. We picked him for the Irani Trophy and then the Ranji Trophy. In just his second Ranji game, he smashed 176. He has that hunger for big runs – the characteristic of a typical Mumbai batter. He tries to dominate them. It was a case of proper talent spotting.”
The Mumbai chief selector feels sad that the youngster had to be dropped for a game. “My only regret is that he was kept out earlier because a few senior players wanted to play. I still feel guilty about that.” Mhatre was left out of the Mumbai XI when Rohit Sharma and Yashasvi Jaiswal played a Ranji match in January, versus Jammu & Kashmir. In 16 first class innings, he has 504 runs at an average of 31.5 with two centuries and one half-century. In List A matches, he averages over 65 (458 runs in seven innings). His highest score in this format is a brilliant 181 and, in the process, became the youngest to post a 150-plus score in a List A game (in the Vijay Hazare Trophy versus Nagaland last December).
With a play-off berth seemingly out of reach, CSK have started building for the future. Mhatre and Shaik Rasheed, the 20-year-old opener, seem to be fitting into such planning. The success of one rubs onto the other but CSK coach cautions stating that it may be too early to draw conclusions. “It’s impressive, not always sustainable. But it’s contagious,” said CSK coach Stephen Fleming.
“And what you’re seeing is young players that are feeding off other’s performances and I think their expectation of how they should play is going up or at least it is being based on what others are doing and that is creating quite a phenomenon.
“We’re seeing a wave of young players in India that are just taking on the bowlers from Ball One. Is it sustainable in tricky conditions? I don’t know. Is the subtlety of the game going to keep growing? I’m concerned. But in terms of what they’re bringing and how they’re playing their first games, it is certainly impressive.
© Cricbuzz
