The young wrist-spinner had a debut to remember in Mumbai Indians바카라™ (MI) match against Chennai Super Kings (CSK), taking three wickets in his first three overs
Mumbai Indians바카라™ (MI) El Clasico match against Chennai Super Kings (CSK) may not be going according to plan, but young Kerala boy Vignesh Puthur had a debut to remember, dismissing Ruturaj Gaikwad in his first IPL over. (Match Blog | Schedule | Points Table)
The 24-year-old left-arm wrist-spinner came on as an impact substitute replacing Rohit Sharma but turned out to be a match-winning force. He completely fooled Ruturaj Gaikwad with a flighted delivery in his first over in IPL. The CSK skipper caught the lower end of the ball while trying to clear the boundary, but it was caught and he was sent back to the pavilion at 53 off 26.
Puthur was not done, hitting immediately when he was called upon by stand-in skipper Suryakumar Yadav. Another trick ball from the youngster saw Shivam Dube attempt a big six, but the connection was not there, and the high ball was caught by Tilak Varma.
If Puthur thought that it was as good as his debut got, he was mistaken. Rachin Ravindra hit his first ball out of the park, but the debutant showed immense resolute, dismissing Deepak Hooda, who was caught by a diving Deepak Chahar.
This has been an unprecedented impact from a player that was picked up by the CSK management for a base price of INR 30 lakhs. It will be interesting to see if he will be on the starting XI next match instead of coming on as a substitute player.
Vignesh Puthur바카라™s performance against CSK will be a point of pride for the MI scouts, who picked him up from the cricketing wilderness. The spinner, who turned 24 in March, is yet to even make his debut for his state team of Kerala.
Instead, the player, born to an autorickshaw driver and a homemaker, made his name playing for the Alleppey Ripples in the Kerala Cricket League (KCL). Taking two wickets in three matches, the Mumbai scouts noticed him, and that earned him three trials with the team before IPL 2025.
For a player with no senior experience at the state level, earning an IPL contract must have felt like a big thing. To make up for his lack of senior cricket experience, Puthur flew to South Africa to act as a net bowler for MI Cape Town in SA20 2025, working alongside Afghanistan바카라™s Rashid Khan.
However, Suryakumar Yadav was certainly impressed by his showings at training to give him the ball in such a crucial match, and the rest, as they say, is history.