MUMBAI: A day after head coach Stephen Fleming hinted Chennai Super Kings would be looking at giving more game time to the younger players in the remaining games this edition, Mumbai batter Ayush Mhatre made his IPL debut with the yellow brigade here at the Wankhede Stadium on Sunday. In doing so, Mhatre, 17-year-and-278-day-old, also became the youngest ever to play for the five-time champions.
Before the contest against arch-rivals Mumbai Indians, the MS Dhoni-led side had already offered a chance to the likes of Noor Ahmad and Sheik Rasheed, players very much in the January of their careers.
It's quite unlikely of the Chennai franchise as they have always preferred experience over youngsters, the strategy that earned them the moniker of Dads Army. During their 15-year stint in the Indian Premier League (they were banned for 2016 and 2017 seasons), they followed their tried and tested method of going with seasoned campaigners. And it did yield results as they are the joint-most successful franchise in the tournament despite playing two seasons fewer than Mumbai Indians (both with five titles).
But desperate times call for desperate measures and CSK were in a precarious position with five losses from seven matches before the much-hyped clash in Mumbai. Fleming rightly admitted it when he told media persons, "Our results to date have brought all the squad members into play. It's been our tradition in the past to stick with more experienced players and they've given us the results that we were after. But when you don't get the results you're looking for, all the squad members, their philosophies, are tested and certainly you've seen by the addition of players and the use of players that we will be using more players this year in the squad than what we have done before."
The change was there to see when youngsters Mhatre and Rasheed added 41 runs off 22 balls for the second wicket after the team lost opener Rachin Ravindra early in the innings. Mhatre played the role of enforcer as he slammed 32 off just 15 balls that included four fours and two sixes before falling to former CSK pacer Deepak Chahar.
Shivam Dube then played the knock he is expected to every time he comes to bat as he completed his first half-century of the 2025 edition in 32 balls but, to be fair, he had made just three off the first 10 balls. His innings was laced with two fours and four sixes. Ravindra Jadeja, who once again was promoted to No. 4, also played his part slamming a fifty off just 34 balls. The half-century was only his only fourth in his entire IPL career that started with the inaugural season in 2008. The combined efforts of their batters meant CSK posted 176/4, their joint-second best total of the tournament, in the allotted 20 overs.
With R Ashwin coming in as an impact player, Dhoni's plan was clear — choke opponents with a three-pronged spin attack. But for it to bear fruits, the visitors needed to send back Rohit Sharma, who was MI's impact player, early. But that didn't happen as the former MI captain got back to form with a fluent half-century.
Afghanistan tweaker Noor Ahmad, CSK's leading wicket taker this season, was surprisingly introduced only in the tenth over and that didn't help the team's cause. The surface, which was last used against Royal Challengers Bengaluru when MI almost chased down 222, added to the misery of CSK.
While Rohit was calculative, India T20I skipper Suryakumar Yadav was harsh on CSK bowlers. With his 360 degrees shots, he deflated the bowling attack scoring boundaries at will. The duo brought down the equation to 36 off 36 balls before the latter rattled along the remaining runs. Suryakumar also brought his half-century off only 26 balls to put an end to Chennai's resistance.
With the win, Hardik Pandya's MI avenged the loss they suffered against CSK in their opener.
For Chennai, who have now lost six out of eight games, the only positive was their intent to give chances to youngsters, who can carry the legacy of the team in future.
Brief scores: Chennai 176/5 in 20 ovs (Ayush 32, Jadeja 53 n.o, Shivam 50, Bumrah 2/25) lost to Mumbai 177/1 in 15.4 ovs (Rohit 76 n.o, Suryakumar 68 n.o).