Ayush Mhatre has been identified by the Chennai Super Kings as their preferred replacement. The youthful Mumbai opener will replace captain Ruturaj Gaikwad, who has been sidelined for the season due to an elbow fracture, as the underperforming team struggles to find a suitable combination this IPL. The five-time winners, who are currently at the bottom of the points standings, made the choice late on Saturday, April 13, as per the Cricbuzz report.
Although he has been requested to join the team right away, he will not be able to join the MS Dhoni-led team until a few days later. Mhatre was unsold at the auction, despite having a base price of Rs 30 lakh.
"He will join the squad in Mumbai in a couple of days. The CSK team is currently in Lucknow for their seventh game, which will be played at the Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Stadium on Monday night. Currently CSK have one win and two points, having suffered five losses on the trot. They play Mumbai Indians in Mumbai on April 20 at the Wankhede," a source close to CSK management told Cricbuzz.
The CSK nod followed the team's invitation to Chennai for tryouts of Mahtre and a few other players, including Salman Nizar of Uttar Pradesh and Urvil Patel of Gujarat. The squad reportedly selected Mahtre to replace Gaikwad, while Prithvi Shaw, who is now out of favor with IPL teams, was also considered.
The cricket community in Mumbai holds the 17-year-old Mahtre in the highest respect. He has scored 504 runs in nine first-class games, including two hundreds and a fifty. He has already amassed 458 runs in seven List A games, including two hundreds. He made his first-class cricket debut in October of last year, and many Mumbai-based analysts think he is a potential India player.