Mumbai : Mumbai hammered Chandigarh by an innings and 155 runs at Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai to start their Ranji Trophy campaign in style. However, they had bittersweet emotions irrespective of the win as their star young Batter and vice captain Ayush Mhatre has been hit by major injury setback in this game.
Ayush has been ruled out for at least a month due to a recurrence of his right hamstring injury. The 19-year-old opener is set to miss Mumbai’s remaining three matches in the first phase of the Ranji Trophy after suffering the injury during the game where he scored a 48 (82) with a six and 7 boundaries.
As per reports, Ayush has suffered a hamstring injury that is likely to rule him out for an indefinite period.
“Ayush has suffered a Grade 4 tear of his right hamstring. He should be out for at least one to one-and-a-half months,” a source in the Mumbai Cricket Association told TOI on Tuesday.
A medical expert, however, said a Grade 4 hamstring tear usually indicates a severe injury. “If it’s a Grade 4 hamstring tear, it usually requires surgery. He could be out for nothing less than four to six months,” the expert told.
After sustaining the injury, Ayush didn’t take the field for 2 days. He underwent scans on Monday, with substitute Suved Parkar fielding in his place.
“It’s unfortunate because he had just returned from another hamstring injury. He looks very sad. He worked very hard during rehab. He was doing rehab with me only at MCA-BKC. He used to come from Virar just to do his rehab and then go back,” Mumbai captain Siddhesh Lad told reporters after Mumbai’s win.
“So, it happens. It’s part of the game. But we will try to motivate him. It seems he will not be with the team for some time now. The way he was limping in the match, it does not look like he will be available for the second or third match,” Lad added.
Lad said the injury occurred while Ayush was running between the wickets. “We had two or three simulations and club games, and also played at BKC. He was looking fine for the last three-four matches, but all of a sudden, he felt something in his hamstring while taking a second run,” Lad said.
The injury is a significant setback for Ayush, who was recently been named Siddhesh Lad’s deputy for the Ranji Trophy by the Mumbai selectors.
He had also earlier suffered a left hamstring injury while playing for CSK in IPL 2026, which kept him out for nearly five months. He missed the T20 Mumbai tournament in June, the India A tour to Sri Lanka and the Duleep Trophy in August. A subsequent right hamstring injury further delayed his comeback.
Despite this setback, Mumbai under Lad stood tall. Although marquee player Yashasvi Jaiswal was dismissed for a duck, Ayush (48), Lad (86) – playing a captain’s knock, Tanush Kotian (58), Tushar Deshpande (44), Mohit Avasthi (56*) helped Mumbai post 429.
Chandigarh led by veteran Manan Vohra couldn’t recover from the mountain of runs. In their first innings, they got bundled out for 78 runs, Deshpande picked 5 wickets haul, while Avasthi grabbed 3.
Mumbai enforced “Follow On” over Chandigarh and restricted them to 196 runs, this time the spin duo of Shams Mulani and Kotian picked 3 wickets each as Mumbai clinched the massive win.
