Amid craze for Rajasthan's Suryavanshi, 17-year-old Ayush Mhatre makes his marks as opener for CSK

The buzz around 14-year-old Vaibhav Suryavanshi is far from over, and now India seems to have uncovered another teenage batting prodigy in Chennai Super Kings’ opener Ayush Mhatre.

Suryavanshi, playing for Rajasthan Royals, stunned the cricketing world with a blistering 35-ball century against Gujarat Titans—becoming the youngest player to score a hundred in men’s T20 cricket. His feat drew admiration from legends of the game, including Sachin Tendulkar.

On Saturday, it was 17-year-old Mhatre who nearly stole the spotlight with a scintillating 94 off just 48 balls against Royal Challengers Bengaluru. Though he missed out on a century, Chennai head coach Stephen Fleming was all praise for the young opener’s explosive knock.


"He's got talent. He's got hand-eye coordination. He's got a beautiful, silky swing. He's aggressive. Everything that we like about a modern-day T20 player," Fleming told reporters after Bengaluru beat Chennai by two runs.

"To me, it's the temperament and being able to execute in a trial and then on the big stage. That's what I'm most impressed with."

"It's one thing to have a lot of shots, but to be able to execute that game plan on a big stage in front of some of the biggest players in the world is what I admire."

Mhatre came into the side only after an elbow injury cut short skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad's season and has scored 163 in four innings with a strike rate of 185.

Fleming on Mhatre, Suryavanshi
Former New Zealand captain Fleming marvelled at the skill-sets of both Suryavanshi and Mhatre.

"It's extraordinary to watch that fearless approach. But you've got to have skills as well."

"It doesn't matter whether you're 14, 18, 21. The innings that we've seen being played, particularly by these two youngsters, is just top class.

"It shows maturity beyond their years, but it shows a skill set that is quite daunting, I think, particularly for bowlers around the world.

"I worry a little bit about the Under-19 opposition. They'll come up against two pretty handy openers when a World Cup comes around."

(with Reuters inputs)