17-year-old Mumbai batter Ayush Mhatre made his Indian Premier League (IPL) debut for Chennai Super Kings on Sunday (April 20) against Mumbai Indians. In the match played at Mumbai’s Wankhede Stadium between the two most successful teams in IPL history, the right-handed batter from Virar came out to bat at No. 3 for the MS Dhoni-led side and, with the help of four fours and two sixes, scored 32 runs from 15 balls. He added 41 runs for the second wicket with Shaik Rasheed (19 runs from 20 balls) and impressed everyone with his attacking approach during his stay at the crease. He hammered two sixes in a row against MI’s 24-year-old fast bowler Ashwani Kumar before being sent back to the pavilion by Deepak Chahar in the seventh over of CSK’s innings. Despite failing to play a big knock on his IPL debut, Mhatre managed to make headlines, and his superb display caught India’s T20I captain Suryakumar Yadav’s attention, who not just appreciated him for his batting but also praised his work ethic. While speaking in a video shared by IPL’s official Instagram handle after the end of the 38th league match of IPL 2025, Surya said he has been following Mhatre’s journey for two years now, and the youngster is a very hard-working boy. According to Suryakumar, who also plays for Mumbai in domestic cricket, Mhatre is very honest to the game, and he really likes that quality of him. “Ayush, I think, is a very good boy. I’ve been watching him really closely for the last two years now. And the way he practises, the way he works hard, I think that’s a very important aspect in his life. And I really like one thing about him: that he’s very honest to the game. First for practice, last to leave from the ground. So these things do matter in a cricketer’s life. And I know I’ve seen his journey very closely. Long way to go for him. I have only one message for him. Just be honest to the game. Just enjoy and be yourself. And that’s it,” Surya said. View this post on Instagram A post shared by IPL (@iplt20) Mhatre joined CSK last week as an injury replacement for captain Ruturaj Gaikwad. Before making his IPL debut, Mhatre had played nine First Class and seven List A matches.