Mumbai Indians are known for unearthing hidden gems, and in IPL 2025, they may have found another one in Vignesh Puthur — a 23-year-old left-arm wrist spinner from Kerala who hasn’t even made his senior state debut yet.
Mumbai Indians picked Vignesh Puthur for INR 30 lakhs in the accelerated round of the IPL 2025 auction. While the signing raised eyebrows at the time, the franchise had done its homework. Vignesh had impressed in trials with MI — bowling to the likes of Hardik Pandya under the watchful eyes of Mahela Jayawardene — and even had a stint as a net bowler with MI Cape Town earlier this year, where he got to interact with Rashid Khan.
Vignesh Puthur, the son of an auto-rickshaw driver, has taken an unconventional path to the IPL. He has represented Kerala only at the Under-14 and Under-19 levels and is yet to make his senior state debut. His talent came to light during the Kerala Cricket League, where he played for Alleppey Ripples and picked up just two wickets in three matches. Despite modest numbers, his unique skill as a left-arm wrist spinner caught the attention of Mumbai Indians scouts. He also had a brief stint in the Tamil Nadu Premier League, further sharpening his game before getting a chance on the IPL stage.
On the field, Puthur made his first official appearance in the IPL 2025 opener against Chennai Super Kings. Named as the Impact Substitute, he was unleashed midway through CSK’s innings and immediately made a difference. He dismissed Ruturaj Gaikwad for 53 at a time when the CSK opener was taking the game away, and later removed power-hitter Shivam Dube, showing excellent control and clever use of the wrong’un.
His first wicket came in his very first over. Bowling four tidy deliveries on a good length for just four runs, Vignesh then overpitched one. Ruturaj Gaikwad, batting on 53 off 25 and looking in ominous form, tried to clear long-off for a six. But he mistimed it off the cue end of the bat, and holed out to the fielder straight down the ground. It was a crucial breakthrough with CSK at 78 for 2 in the eighth over, well ahead in the chase.
Puthur struck again in his second over, this time removing spin-hitter Shivam Dube. A ball earlier, Dube was beaten completely by a sharp wrong’un. On the next ball, he tried to counter-attack but only managed to sky the ball high without the distance. The catch was safely taken at long-on. Both of Puthur’s first two wickets came from mistimed attempts to clear the ropes.
His third wicket came later in the innings when Deepak Hooda fell into the same trap. Attempting to accelerate, Hooda too failed to clear the boundary and was caught in the deep.
Three wickets – all from batters trying to take him on – showed how well Vignesh used flight, pace variation, and wrong’uns to deceive. A dream debut for a spinner with no senior domestic experience yet.
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Vignesh’s dream debut gives MI a much-needed solution in the spin department. The franchise had struggled to find a consistent Indian spinner at the auction. Now, with Vignesh Puthur showing promise, Mumbai Indians could either pair him with Mitchell Santner on turning pitches or even play him as the lone spinner and open up an overseas slot for another player.
While it’s still early days, Vignesh Puthur’s rise from relative obscurity to delivering under pressure on IPL debut is exactly the kind of story Mumbai Indians have become known for. Their scouting has been top-notch over the years and to pick Puthur from the wilderness and unleash him in the first game shows how confident they are of their talents. MI have a habit of giving debuts to fresh faces in the first few games of each season and if it was Naman Dhir last time, it is Vignesh Puthur this time. Based on his performance today, we can safely say he’s going to get a lot more games for MI this season.
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