Chennai Super Kings have moved quickly to plug the gap left by Ayush Mhatre, recruiting fast-bowler Akash Madhwal for the remainder of IPL 2026.
Mhatre pulled up with a hamstring strain while batting against Sunrisers Hyderabad on 18 April. Medical staff estimate six to twelve weeks on the sidelines, ruling the 24-year-old out of the tournament.
That opened the door for Madhwal, a skiddy right-armer from Uttarakhand who first caught the eye in 2023. Eight matches for Mumbai Indians brought 14 wickets at a shade under nine an over – tidy returns for a late-season call-up. The following two campaigns were less straightforward. Five wickets in five outings for MI in 2024, then four in four for Rajasthan Royals last year, left his stock lower than it had been. Unsurprisingly, no franchise raised a paddle at December’s auction.
Still, Mumbai invited him back as a net bowler this spring, and CSK have liked what they have seen in practice matches. Bowling coach Eric Simons summed it up neatly: “He hits the deck, he’s quick enough and, crucially, he wants the ball in tight situations.”
Captain Ruturaj Gaikwad echoed that view. “Akash has done it before at this level. We need someone to close out the middle overs, and he ticks that box,” he said during a brief media call.
For Madhwal, now 30, the switch offers a fresh start and perhaps a final chance to establish himself as a frontline IPL seamer. His immediate task is simple: provide control through the middle, a couple of handy yorkers at the death, and let the rest of CSK’s attack – Deepak Chahar, Tushar Deshpande and the veteran spinners – do their thing.
Whether he manages that could shape the defending champions’ run-in. CSK sit third at the halfway mark; they know fine margins decide play-off spots. A bowler who can slide in without fuss would be worth his weight in gold, or at least the INR 1.2 crore CSK have allocated for the role.
