Mumbai Indians unleashed a high-quality youngster named Vignesh Puthur during their opening match of IPL 2025 against Chennai Super Kings. The move turned out to be a fantastic one and almost won them the game.
The left-arm wrist-spinner showed his class and picked up three big wickets in the middle overs. At one point, Chennai seemed to be running away with the match. But, Vignesh Puthur brought Mumbai back into the game with his performance.
It was not only CSK’s batters, but MI’s star-studded batting line-up also had some trouble when facing him during the nets. MI’s bowling coach Paras Mhambrey opened up about Vignesh’s bowling to the team’s senior batters and how he troubled them.
Paras Mhambrey speaks on Vignesh Puthur’s selection
After the match. Mumbai Indians bowling coach Paras Mhambrey revealed that seasoned batters Rohit Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav, and Tilak Varma played Vignesh Puthur in the nets but none of them found it easy to pick him.
“Rohit, Surya, Tilak, all these guys batted against him (in the nets). It wasn’t easy to pick him. We felt that we had the confidence of pushing him in this game. And it turned out to be excellent. It was a good decision,” Mhambrey was quoted as saying by The Indian Express.
It is to be noted that Mumbai Indians also sent Puthur to South Africa with their SA20 team MI Cape Town. The youngster spent some time with seasoned players like Rashid Khan and Trent Boult there which helped him grow as a cricketer.
How is Vignesh Puthur different from others?
When asked about the difference between other bowlers and Vignesh Puthur, Mhambrey labelled his unique ability as a left-arm wrist-spinner. The former India bowling coach recalled how the franchise saw the potential in Puthur and decided to give him a chance despite not having much experience behind him.
“The idea has always been about seeing the potential more than anything else. And when we saw him in one of our trials, we saw the potential in him. Rather than looking into how much cricket he’s played in the past. It’s purely the thought that he has the potential. And you saw that today. Never easy, first game against CSK, it’s a big game. But purely the way he responded, hats off to him,” he added.
Puthur is yet to play a match for his state team Kerala in any of the formats but was still trusted by Mumbai Indians to have a go in a big IPL game. MI’s high-class recruitment system came to the fore once again as it helped them in identifying such a unique talent.
Great night for Vignesh Puthur
The left-arm wrist-spinner came to bowl in the eighth over of the innings when CSK were absolutely cruising with the game. The home team required just 82 off 78 balls with nine wickets in hand and it seemed like the match would be over quickly.
But Puthur had other ideas. He picked up the wicket of Ruturaj Gaikwad in his first over and then struck again in his second over with the big wicket of Shivam Dube. The youngster didn’t stop here and also snapped up the wicket of another seasoned batter Deepak Hooda in his next over.
