A young bowler from Kerala has made a splash in the Indian Premier League while playing for Mumbai Indians. He is Vignesh Puthur. The leg spinner picked three wickets on his IPL debut as MI squared-off against their arch rivals Chennai Super Kings in their first match of the new season.
The 24-year-old’s debut ended in a disappointment as CSK won the match by 4 wickets.
Puthur might want to forget the result of the match but will preserve one moment in his memory bank for as long as he can. It was when India and CSK legend MS Dhoni put his hand on his shoulders and appreciated his efforts.
The bowler claimed the wicket of CSK skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad to open his IPL tally. He backed Gaikwad’s wicket with the scalps of Shivam Dube and Deepak Hooda.
Puthur is star-stuck.
“I never thought in my life that I would play with all these players”, a shy Puthur told his team after the match.
IPL is a place where a player grabs the headlines almost instantly. He can then become a great player with a huge social media following drawing fat pay cheque or get lost in obscurity.
Puthur seems to have some “X-factor” about him that made Mumbai Indians splashed ₹30 lakh to buy him even before his First-Class debut.
Life will only get busier for Puthur as he will have to manage cricket and studies. The boy is pursuing MA in English Literature from PTM Govt College Perinthalmanna in the Calicut University.
Ahead of this season, Puthur spent time with MI Cape Town in the SA20 as a net bowler. There, according to PTI, he got to interact with the likes of Rashid Khan and Lasith Malinga. Now he will be squaring-off against Rashid when Mumbai Indians take on Gujarat Titans this weekend!
Temperament decides the distance that a sportsperson can cover in his journey. Puthur seems to be impressing the team’s coaches.
“never easy — (the) first game against CSK — it’s a big game. But purely the way he responded, hats off to him,” said the team’s bowling coach Paras Mhambrey in his post-match press conference, showering praise of the youngster.
Prakhar Sachdeo
The Sportz Planet Desk
