With bright IPL start, teen Ayush looks set for the long cricket ride

When one met Ayush Mhatre at the Mumbai Cricket Association annual awards function on March 20, he had a T20 match to play the next day.

- Sanjeev K Samyal

MUMBAI: When one met Ayush Mhatre at the Mumbai Cricket Association annual awards function on March 20, he had a T20 match to play the next day.

"From our home in Virar, he was travelling by car for the Panvel (Navi Mumbai Premier League) matches. It used to take four hours one way," says his father Yogesh. After the semi-final played under lights, he reached home at 4 am.

But such is the teenager's craze for playing matches, Ayush doesn't mind the travel. "He is playing matches non-stop. You can take him anywhere for a match. After the tournament, next day he had his three-day Times Shield match for Bharat Petroleum," says his school coach Sachin Koli for whose team Ayush was playing in Panvel.

The 17-year-old opening batter's journey has not been easy. Hailing from Virar, Mumbai's farthest suburb on the western line, pursuing his passion for cricket has meant spending a lot of time commuting in local trains. Virar to Dadar one way is nearly 90 minutes. He has been doing it right from his school days.

"He doesn't mind the long commute, he just wants to go back home to Virar. Ayush says even a couple of hours sleep at home freshens him up. He catches up on sleep while travelling. The moment he sits in the local train, he falls asleep, that's a habit since childhood," says Yogesh, an ex-banker.

Rapid progress