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Ahead of the IPL 2025 mega auction, five-time champions Chennai Super Kings (CSK) have expressed interest in Mumbai's 17-year-old and potential opening batsman Ayush Mhatre, who is currently playing the Ranji Trophy. The young player represented Mumbai and smashed 288 runs with an average of 41.14.
Watching his impressive First-Class debut for Mumbai, Mhatre caught eyes of MS Dhoni, who along with CSK management called him for the selection trials. The trial will take place during the six-day break between the fifth round of the Ranji Trophy.
Mhatre's innings of 176 leaves MS Dhoni impressed
Now, p laying his third FC match, Ayush Mhatre scored 176 runs against Maharashtra recently at the MCA Ground in Mumbai. The young player has managed to bring the attention of former India and CSK captain and legend MS Dhoni and the CSK scouting team. His recent innings include an impressive 176-run against Maharashtra at the MCA Ground. This resulted in him reporting for the trial period during the six-day break between the fifth round of the Ranji Trophy and the first round of Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy between November 16 and 23.
CSK's MD and CEO, Mr Kasi Viswanathan, informed MCA Secretary Abhay Hadap about the franchise's interest in Mhatre. As reported by TOI, K Viswanathan has asked the MCA Head to permit the batter to participate in the trials as he was named in Mumbai's 28-man probable squad for the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy.
Notably, the promising young player made his debut for Mumbai this season in the Irani Cup against the Rest of India in Lucknow, scoring 321 runs in five matches. A free-stroking and aggressive player is a huge fan of Rohit Sharma and his pull shot. Mhatre is certainly the best and the new find who can pull driving shots and attack spinners in a pleasing form.
List of players released and retained by CSK:
Retained Players: Ruturaj Gaikwad (INR 18 Crore), MS Dhoni (INR 4 Crore), Ravindra Jadeja (INR 18 Crore), Matheesha Pathirana (INR 13 Crore), Shivam Dube (INR 12 Crore)
Released Players: Moeen Ali, Deepak Chahar, Tushar Deshpande, Rajvardhan Hangargekar, Ajay Mandal, Mukesh Choudhary, Ajinkya Rahane, Shaik Rasheed, Mitchell Santner, Simarjeet Singh, Nishant Sindhu, Prashant Solanki, Maheesh Theekshana, Rachin Ravindra, Shardul Thakur, Daryl Mitchell, Sameer Rizvi, Mustafizur Rahman, Richard Gleeson, Avanish Rao Aravelly, Devon Conway.
