Cliff Notes – Teenager Mhatre replaces Gaikwad at CSK; Smaran replaces Zampa at SRH
- Chennai Super Kings have signed 17-year-old Ayush Mhatre as a replacement for injured captain Ruturaj Gaikwad for IPL 2025, at a cost of INR 30 lakh.
- Mhatre, who has yet to debut in T20s, boasts impressive List A statistics, including two centuries and a record-breaking 181 runs against Nagaland.
- Sunrisers Hyderabad have replaced injured leg-spinner Adam Zampa with uncapped Karnataka batter R Smaran, who joins at his base price of INR 30 lakh.
Teenager Mhatre replaces Gaikwad at CSK; Smaran replaces Zampa at SRH
Chennai Super Kings (CSK) have signed 17-year-old Mumbai opener Ayush Mhatre as a replacement for the injured captain Ruturaj Gaikwad for the remainder of IPL 2025, for INR 30 lakh.
Mhatre is yet to make his T20 debut but has two centuries in seven List-A games. The first of them was a 117-ball 181 against Nagaland that included 15 fours and 11 sixes followed by a 93-ball 148 against Saurashtra that included 13 fours and nine sixes. He can also bowl offspin, with which he has picked up seven List A wickets in four innings.
“He came into the trial at Chennai and he was in the nets. It was just amazing how these young cricketers play,” CSK’s bowling consultant Eric Simmons said, “they play a fearless brand of cricket. If you look at the way CSK plays, there’s a brand [of cricket] we play and he fitted in that perspective to be able to play with a sense of freedom, to be able to play aggressively but the way you play. He came and had really good nets and the guys who kept eyes on him were very impressed with what he’s got and what he can offer for the future. So very excited to have him as part of the side.”
Mhatre also represented the India Under-19 team in three games at the Asia Cup in 2024. It was in the first-class circuit, however, where he first made headlines. He made his red-ball debut in the Irani Cup last year and dazzled with a knock of 176 against Maharashtra – led by Gaikwad – that followed his 52 against Baroda on a turning track in Vadodara. So far, he has played nine first-class games, scoring 504 runs, including two hundreds, at an average of 31.50. His List A numbers are more impressive: 458 runs in seven innings at an average of 65.42 anda strike rate of 135.50. With his century against Nagaland, Mhatre had also broken Yashasvi Jaiswal’s world record of becoming the youngest player to score 150-plus in men’s senior List A cricket.
Gaikwad led CSK in their first five games, of which they lost four, before an elbow injury ruled him out of the season, with MS Dhoni taking over as captain.
Adam Zampa has been sidelined from the rest of IPL 2025
Australia legspinner Adam Zampa has been sidelined from the rest of IPL 2025 with injury. Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) have brought in Karnataka batter R Smaran as his replacement. Smaran, 21, is uncapped in the IPL and has joined SRH at his base price of INR 30 lakh.
Zampa, who played alongside Australia team-mates Travis Head and Pat Cummins, had featured twice, taking 2 for 94 from eight overs although one of those appearances had been in the game that brought 528 runs between SRH and Rajasthan Royals.
Smaran was among the breakout stars of the 2024-25 Vijay Hazare Trophy, scoring 433 runs in seven innings at an average of 72.16 and strike rate of just over 100. He also starred for them in the final with a knock of 101 off 92 balls that helped Karnataka lift the title by putting up 348. He has played six T20s so far, scoring 170 runs at a strike rate of 170. He was recently in action in the DY Patil tournament in Mumbai, in the lead-up to IPL 2025.