Mumbai’s young batting star Ayush Mhatre has become the talking point after becoming the youngest player in the world to score 150 plus runs in List A cricket after his 181 against Nagaland in the Vijay Hazare Trophy in Ahmedabad recently.
Ayush’s father has reacted to his son’s world record innings by stating it was his son’s way of repaying the faith of the Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) and now he needs to make opportunities count.
“It was a great knock and a wonderful innings. He has to make use of opportunities that are coming his way and this knock is a tribute to the faith the Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) has placed in him. The good thing now is that he is making every chance count and looking to play the big innings that will get him noticed,’’ Yogesh Mhatre, Ayush’s father, told The Free Press Journal in an exclusive chat.
The Virar boy was 17 years and 168 days when he achieved the feat against Nagaland breaking fellow Mumbaikar Yashasvi Jaiswal’s record of 17 years and 291 days against Jharkhand in 2019.
Ayush had played a pivotal role in the U-19 Asia Cup in early December 2024 where India reached the final and eventually lost to Bangladesh. The Mumbai batter struck 176 runs in five innings at an average of 44 to leave his mark on the tournament.
However, it is Ayush’s Ranji Trophy performances that fetched him a place in the Indian Under-19 team. The young lad has two centuries and two Man-of-the-Match awards to his credit so far and both in winning causes showing his maturity and temperament to play the game in the long haul.
Ayush’s development is also being aided by the fact that senior Mumbai players, who are also India stars, like skipper Ajinkya Rahane, Shreyas Iyer, Suryakumar Yadav and Shardul Thakur are supporting and guiding the youngster.
“The senior players are all supportive of him given that he is so young and talented, they are also mentoring and guiding him and that is an added boost for him to perform,’’ Yogesh Mhatre stated.
Mhatre was also hopeful that his son will go on to represent India just the way Jaiswal, whose record he broke, made it.
“This is what we hope for ultimately that he gets a chance to play for India,’’ he added.
