In a historic moment in IPL 2025, Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) opened their innings with both opening batsmen aged under 21 years. This rare occurrence happened in Match 43 against Chennai Super Kings (CSK) at Chepauk, only the fifth time in IPL’s history that an opening partnership was batters aged under 21 years.
The Young Guns: Ayush Mhatre and Shaik Rasheed
Ayush Mhatre made his debut in the IPL at the young age of 17 years and 283 days, which made him the seventh youngest player to debut in the IPL. His partner Shaik Rasheed, also aged 20 years and 213 days, was youthful exuberance at the crease. Unfortunately for Rasheed, he was dismissed for a golden duck but Mhatre showed his potential scoring quickly 30 runs off 19 balls with six fours before being caught by Pat Cummins in the sixth over.
A Look Back: Previous Under-21 Opening Pairs
The IPL has seen a few youngsters opening partnership in the league:
2016 : Sanju Samson (20) and Rishabh Pant (18) opened for Delhi Capitals against Rising Pune Supergiants.
2020 : Kolkata Knight Riders had Tom Banton (20) and Shubman Gill (20) opening against Royal Challengers Bengaluru.
2022 : Abhishek Sharma (20) and Priyam Garg (20) opened for SRH against Mumbai Indians.
2022 : In another match, the exact same Sharma and Garg opened for SRH against Punjab Kings.
The Importance of Youth in the IPL:
The selections of players like Mhatre and Rasheed highlights the IPL’s effort to promote newer cricketers, which Borhra’s team undoubtedly need. Their performance not only guarantees them more cricket but serves as an example for our next generation. Memorably, the IPL meets its old-age problems with new-age solutions. These examples are great reminders and examples of youth development, and every time they feature in IPL, it will scream of cricket development in India.