Vignesh Puthur was the pick of the bowlers for Mumbai Indians in their IPL 2025 opener against Chennai Super Kings, returning figures of 3/32.
The left-arm wrist spinner from Kerala dismissed CSK captain Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shivam Dube, and Deepak Hooda.
But his friends and family were more excited on knowing what former India captain MS Dhoni told him after the match.
“Eddaaa, pulli entha da paranjathu? (What did MS Dhoni say) is what I asked first because even my parents were keen to know,” Sreerag says.
Dhoni asked him how old is he and told Vignesh to keep doing the same things that have brought him to the IPL,” Sreerag tells Indian Express.
Everyone in Vignesh’s town was keen on knowing the same thing and often asked his father, Babu, a familiar auto rickshaw driver in the Kunnapally locality in Perinthalmanna town, in Malappuram.
“If you talk to him, you won’t believe he has so much talent. He is a very shy boy and an introvert. Won’t talk much…but with the ball in hand, he is a totally different person. The world got to see it last night,” Sreerag, his close friend tells.
The same view was shared by his childhood coach CG Vijayakumar too. He had kept close eye on Vignesh, since he was 10.
“When any kid joins our academy, we always let him try everything… batting, wicketkeeping, fast bowling, spin. But with Vignesh, from the start it was all about wrist-spin because he had a rubbery wrist and a flowing action. Wrist spin is an art and he had everything to learn. The first impression always counts and look what he did in Chennai,” Vijayakumar says.
It was Vignesh’s friend Shareef who first asked him to bowl leg spin.
“We used to play together. I liked bowling leg-spin, but I couldn’t bowl it. So I asked him to try it and even with the tennis ball he was getting good turn. I was determined to take him to the camp and told his parents as well that if he starts playing cricket seriously, he will come good,” says Shareef who stopped playing beyond age-group levels.
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