Ayush Mhatre joined Chennai Super Kings (CSK) as a mid-season replacement last year and became their youngest ever player at 17. At 18, after playing just over ten IPL games, he has grown to become one of their most important batters.
Against Kolkata Knight Riders on Tuesday, Sanju Samson had started CSK’s innings with three consecutive fours and moved to 22 off 12 balls. But, by then, Mhatre had already outscored Samson despite facing five balls fewer. Mhatre sped along like a Ferrari at a strike rate of over 220, making Samson’s 150 seem like a stagecoach in comparison. His 17-ball 38 powered CSK so far ahead in the first six overs that they could afford a middle-overs slowdown and still beat KKR in emphatic fashion.
Mhatre put the pedal to the floor in the fourth over when he crashed Cameron Green for 4, 4, 6, 6. While it was the pair of sixes that made Chepauk raise itself to a huge roar, it was the first four that illustrated why Mhatre is a special talent.
Green banged in a hard-length delivery on the off stump and got it to move away ever so slightly on a tricky Chepauk pitch that was a mix of black and red soil. It appeared like Mhatre had originally shaped to pull it through midwicket. But he changed his grip in a split-second, countered the subtle away movement, and flat-batted it away between extra-cover and mid-off. Green had speared it in at 140kph, but Mhatre still had the time to adjust and put it away.
Like his hero Rohit Sharma, Mhatre seems to have extra time as well as the gift of timing. By the final over of the powerplay, KKR’s attack was left with no option but to go for the yorker. Vaibhav Arora’s first attempt to bowl a yorker turned into a full-toss, which was swatted over midwicket. He only narrowly missed the outside-off yorker next ball, but Mhatre flat-batted it away between extra-cover and mid-off once again. Samson, who had the best seat in the house at the other end, was so impressed that he gave Mhatre a thumbs-up. After all, Samson knows a thing or two about hitting the yorker to the boundary.
This was Mhatre’s seventh boundary in 13 balls. He went on to eight in 14. When he attempted another one, off the last ball of the powerplay, he holed out to deep midwicket. But Mhatre’s uber-attacking intent drew a round of applause from a festive crowd at Chepauk on Tamil New Year’s day.
It also raised the question whether CSK would be better off if Mhatre moves up from No. 3 to open the batting along with Samson and Ruturaj Gaikwad drops down to No. 3. While Mhatre has maintained a strike rate of 170 in the powerplay in IPL 2026, Gaikwad has gone at 104. He is the only player to have a strike rate below 130 among 20 batters who have faced at least 40 balls in the powerplay. Last season, Mhatre had opened after Gaikwad was ruled out with an injury.
Though the sample size is fairly small, Mhatre seems to love pace. Since his IPL debut last season, he has had a strike rate of 194.85 against pace in 12 innings. Only the unnaturally gifted Vaibhav Sooryavanshi has bettered Mhatre’s strike rate against pace (for a minimum of 130 balls faced during this period).
The pressure is on Gaikwad in an IPL where opening batters’ strike rates are shooting through the roof. Perhaps, there is a case for CSK to free him up at No.3, behind Mhatre and Samson, and use him as their failsafe. Plus, Gaikwad has more experience and exposure in dealing with spin than Mhatre.
CSK are usually averse to changes in a winning team, but Mhatre has given them something to think about with his third notable innings in his past four trips to the crease.
