On Sunday, in CSK’s last match of IPL 2025, three young players came to the fore, to take the team to a formidable 230/5 against GT, one of the best bowling line-ups in the competition. That meant, the Men in Yellow posted their fourth win in 14 matches, albeit by a massive 83 runs.
All that was mostly possible because of 17-year-old Ayush Mhatre, who was the early aggressor and scored 34 from 17. Urvil Patel — the new no. 3 scored 37 from 19, and then Dewald Brevis made 57 from just 23 deliveries.
Ayush Mhatre Solid Replacement for CSK
All three gave a glimpse of what could be, in IPL 2026. This year is already gone, with CSK lying at the bottom of the table from the very start. Batting emerged as major concern — where all the batters were rather mediocre. Their best man was Shivam Dube, who scored 357 in 14 games at an average of 32, followed by Ravindra Jadeja — with 301 runs.
But these three youngsters have come like a breath of fresh air. Mhatre, who came in as a replacement for injured skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad — has scored 240 runs in 7 matches at an average of 34. Brevis has come in for Gurjapneet Singh — and has scored 219 runs in 6 matches at an average of 43. Urvil, the replacement of Vansh Bedi, has scored 68 in 3.
Urvil Patel Perfect for Hitters Job
To put things into perspective — the trio has raised hopes for the next edition, after a poor showing by some of the star, veteran batters in 2025. Deepak Hooda, who was bagged for 1.70 Cr in the auction, scored only 31 runs in 7 matches. Rahul Tripathi was no good with 55 runs in 5 matches. Sheikh Rasheed scored 71 from 5 matches and was a let down.
Skipper Gaikwad was poor too. He managed 122 in five encounters. These numbers just bring to the fore, everything that was wrong with CSK this season. But if the team has to raise the hopes of a title next year, then a bulk of work will have to done by Mhatre, Urvil Patel and Brevis — who will perhaps be the most important batters for them.
GT’s Poor Batting Spells Doom
Coming back to the match, GT shot themselves in the foot, by blowing up a golden chance to make it to qualifier 1. They were never in the chase as their innings folded for 147 only. Except for Sai Sudharsan (41), all batters failed to get going. The Mr. Consistent, Shubman Gill failed to go beyond 13, while Jos Buttler scored only 5.
Anshul Kamboj and Noor Ahmad were the pick of the bowlers, who went on to pick three wickets each.
