Chennai Super Kings’ (CSK) ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) campaign has been marred with injuries. Currently, three of CSK’s core group are injured. While CSK were waiting on MS Dhoni to regain full fitness, left-arm pacer Khaleel Ahmed got ruled out due to quadriceps injury. Then, Ayush Mhatre suffered a hamstring injury. The CSK think tank is working overtime to replace Khaleel, who played the role of their new-ball bowler. The five-time IPL-winning franchise have called two pacers for trials.
As per a report by Cricbuzz, Akash Madhwal has already attend CSK's trials when the team was in Hyderabad. Also, Rajvardhan Hargargekar is set to attend a trial in Mumbai where CSK are scheduled to take on Mumbai Indians (MI) on April 23.
Madhwal’s IPL career
Madhwal had represented MI and Rajasthan Royals (RR) before. For MI, he had a breakout season in 2023 as injured Suryakumar Yadav's replacement. From eight games, he claimed 14 wickets, including five wickets for just five runs against Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) in the eliminator. In the next season, his economy rate went upwards of 11 runs per over. After five games, he managed five wickets and was alter dropped. In IPL 2025, he played for RR, picking up four wickets. Again, the economy rate became an issue and he didn't get enough chances, playing just four games.
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Hangargekar made debut for CSK in IPL 2023
Hangargekar made an impact in India's Under-19 World Cup 2022-winning run. In the auction, he was picked for Rs 1.5 crore by CSK. He played two games, claimed a three-fer and didn't get another game in the 2023 season. After CSK released him in 2024, LSG acquired his services for base price in IPL 2025. However, he did not get a single chance despite being named in list of available impact players.
Update on Ayush Mhatre
The extend of Mhatre’s injury will be made public after he undergoes scans. He is set to miss at least few games due to hamstring tear. In the absence of their leading run-scorer of the season, CSK batting coach Michael Hussey is confident that the benched players will step up.