'Trying to find some gold nuggets' - CSK turn to their youth for a better future

Wins have been hard to come by for Chennai Super Kings (CSK) this season, and reversing a losing trend is rarely straightforward. But adversity often presents unexpected openings. In recent games, the inclusion of Ayush Mhatre, Urvil Patel, and Dewald Brevis has reignited CSK's batting firepower. The narrow two-run loss to Royal Challengers Bengaluru hinted at a revival, and the emphatic win over Kolkata Knight Riders confirmed it.

What makes the turnaround even more remarkable is that none of the trio were part of CSK's original auction plans. All three were signed as injury replacements after April 15, yet they've leapfrogged several players from the 25-member post-auction squad to break into the playing XI. While the franchise had publicly backed its auction strategy in earlier press conferences, there's since been an implicit acknowledgment that they fell short in identifying emerging talent early on. The initial blueprint - built around Devon Conway, Ravindra Jadeja, Vijay Shankar, Rahul Tripathi, and the now-injured Ruturaj Gaikwad - failed to click. With playoff hopes extinguished, CSK have shifted their focus toward IPL 2026, though not without showing signs of finishing the current season on a high, if not a triumphant, note.

Batting coach Michael Hussey shed light on the thinking behind introducing the new trio.

"When it got to a stage where we were going to struggle to make the playoffs, there was an opportunity to maybe look at what our future looks like," Hussey said after CSK's third win of the season. "Yes, obviously, we've got those players that were picked in the auction, but this was an opportunity to do some scouting, to have a look at some younger talent that was coming through, to inject them into the games and get to see them in pressure situations and see if they can handle the pressure of IPL."

Each of the three newcomers has shown, in different ways, that they belong. Mhatre's 94 against RCB was one of the finest IPL innings by a teenager. Brevis has brought electric energy in the field and backed it up with a blazing 22-ball half-century at Eden Gardens. Urvil, too, lit up his IPL debut with a dazzling 31 off just 11 balls. But beyond their individual numbers, Hussey credited them with lifting the overall mood of the squad.

"They've had a positive impact on the team," he said. "They're highly motivated to do well. They've created energy around the group, because when you're in this position, sometimes the energy of the players can just go downhill very quickly. But this injection of some youth has really invigorated everyone."

It's not just their runs that have changed CSK's fortunes, it's the intent behind those runs. Ahead of the KKR match, CSK had the lowest powerplay run rate this season at 8.1. Their top-order had either batted too cautiously for the modern T20 game or struggled to play with freedom, often leaving the middle and lower-order with too much to make up, whether batting first or second.

Against KKR, just like in the RCB game, CSK showed early aggression. Despite losing five wickets, they powered to 62 runs in the first six overs. Brevis then lit up the 11th over, taking down Vaibhav Arora for 30 runs with a sequence of 6, 4, 4, 6, 6, 4. That onslaught gave CSK the breathing room they needed. The experienced middle order did the rest, with Shivam Dube's 45 off 40 and MS Dhoni's 17 off 18 finishing the chase with calm authority.

While Hussey admitted that the lack of intent in the powerplay had been a concern, he also pointed to the home conditions in Chennai as a contributing factor. Still, he acknowledged that this stretch might mark the beginning of a tactical transition for CSK.

"I mean, we weren't playing in Hyderabad, you know. We weren't playing in Delhi where the ground is smaller and the pitch is better," Hussey said. "But I agree with you, it has been an area that we were below par on, particularly in the early stages of the season. The injection of youth, they bring that, I guess, youthful exuberance, that freedom, that lack of fear.

"So yeah, it's an area that we're putting a fair bit of time into is that sort of talent identification. Trying to find some gold nuggets, I guess, if you like. Hopefully it pays dividends in the future years to come. Transitions are always difficult to manage, especially in a competition like IPL."

Hussey reserved special praise for Mhatre, even though he was dismissed for a two-ball duck in Kolkata. In ESPNcricinfo's studios, Tom Moody praised Urvil's technique and went as far as to call Brevis a game-changing CSK signing for the next ten years.

"Mhatre's a special talent, but he's also a special young man," Hussey said. "He's got a great support network around him with his coach back in Mumbai, his parents. So I feel as though he's got a great foundation to hopefully have a very successful career, and hope it's with CSK for a long time."

"Brevis could be one of Chennai's best signings of the decade. He is an exceptionally talented player and he's just starting to realise his talent. The one blip he will have to overcome is his cricket smarts," Moody said on Time:Out. "And the thing that stood out with Urvil was his stability in the crease. One of the key things to power-hitting is a stable base, and for a young man to come into his first game and stay true to that and to be able to execute like that tells me a hell of a lot that this guy has a future."

The batting flourish in the last two games has offered CSK enough positives to suggest that all is not lost, even if the points table says otherwise. IPL 2026 may still be a while away, but some clarity around key personnel for the future makes even these small victories feel significant.