MUMBAI: Fresh off captaining India to the Under-19 World Cup title in Zimbabwe and Namibia, Ayush Mhatre was denied a chance to turn out for the Mumbai Under-23 team in their Col CK Nayudu Trophy clash against Odisha, which started on Friday at the Sachin Tendulkar Gymkhana in Kandivali due to the BCCI’s rules that player must feature in at least two matches in the season, TOI has learnt.
Busy with his Mumbai and India Under-19 commitments, the 18-year-old Mumbai and Chennai Super Kings opener couldn’t play in any of the matches for the Mumbai Under-23 team in the 2025-26 edition of the Col CK Nayudu Trophy.
However, another member of India’s U-19 World Cup-winning team, ‘keeper-bat Abhigyan Kundu features in the Under-23 fixture as he played two matches for the Mumbai Under-23 team earlier in the tournament this season. The 17-year-old Kundu was one of the standout performers for India in the 2026 U-19 World Cup, scoring 239 runs in seven matches@59.75, with two fifties.
Having scored half-centuries (62 & 53) in both the semifinal against Afghanistan and final against England at Harare, Mhatre, who finished the Under-19 World Cup with 189 runs in seven matches@30.57, a strike rate of 113.22 and three fifties, is back in form. He also picked up seven wickets@12.42 with more than useful off-spin bowling.
“Yes, both the Mumbai Cricket Association and Mhatre were keen that he plays in this match, but the BCCI’s rules don’t allow him to do that. It’s unfortunate because Mhatre’s presence would have added to the strength of Mumbai Under-23 team, and also given him some useful match practice,” a source close to the developments told this paper.
The Mumbai Under-23 team is being captained by Kolkata Knight Riders batter Angrish Raghuvanshi, and besides Kundu, also includes allrounder Suryansh Shedge, who played in the Ranji Trophy quarterfinal for Mumbai against Karnataka last week at the MCA ground in BKC. Shedge scored 10 & 25 as Mumbai lost that match by five wickets after failing to defend 325.
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