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‘A breath of fresh air’ – Varun Aaron on Vignesh Puthur

Sunil Puthur did not go to work between Monday and Wednesday this week. His wife, Bindu, and he had to stay at home in Perinthalmanna, a town in Malappuram district in north-central Kerala – state and local media had been parked outside their house ever since their only son, Vignesh Puthur, made an impactful IPL 2025 debut, picking up three wickets in his first match for Mumbai Indians (MI) against Chennai Super Kings (CSK) last Sunday.”The local media in Kerala swamped the house from as early as 7am until evening,” Sunil tells ESPNcricinfo over the phone on Wednesday. While it’s common for families of cricketers to turn the watching experience into an event for the community, especially when the player is little-known, Sunil and Bindu opted to watch Vignesh’s debut at home by themselves. But the next morning, they were happy to share their feelings about it in interviews to the media, their eyes welling up on more than one occasion.Part of that emotion has to do with the sacrifices the family has made to ensure Vignesh got all the support he needed to grow in cricket.Related

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About a decade ago, Sunil gave up running an agency for a popular biscuit brand in order to drive an auto-rickshaw, largely to ferry Vignesh to his cricket training.”He is my only son, and I wanted to support him to the best of my ability,” Sunil says. “The only thing I wanted to do was to ensure I supported his decision to pursue cricket.”

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When Vignesh was ten, one of his friends took him to the Perinthalmanna Cricket Academy, run by CG Vijayakumar, who took up coaching at the behest of his mentor, Vasoo Paranjape, the famed Mumbai-based coach. Vijayakumar saw that Vignesh was a fast learner.”His movements were just natural in everything he did,” says Vijayakumar, who continues to stay in touch with Vignesh. “In the first few months, I could see his rubbery wrists. In six months, his loading, follow-through, and the way he imparted spin [on the ball] already made him a good unit. In a year, he had started to bowl a googly, too, slowly.”By the time he was 14, Vignesh joined the Kerala Cricket Association academy, where he went up the ranks before playing for the state in the Under-14 and U-19 categories, and later for the Kerala U-23 team in invitational tournaments. While he is yet to play for Kerala in domestic cricket, a pathway opened up for Vignesh when MI called him for IPL trials last year after he was spotted by former India fast bowler TA Sekar, who was scouting for the franchise in Thiruvananthapuram.

“He had a very good action. He was flighting the ball well, and spinning both ways. I always go for a good technique and [see] if a bowler has variations. I observed both of those before recommending him for trials”TA Sekar on his first impression of Vignesh Puthur

Vignesh had not been on Sekar’s list of players to watch out for, but his trained eye, from his years working as a bowling coach, national selector, and team director, picked up the quality of Puthur’s action.At the trials, held before the mega IPL auction in November, Vignesh impressed the MI leadership group, and when the franchise bought him uncontested for INR 30 lakh, there was understandable joy in the Puthur household.Left-arm wristspin is a rare art and remains a bit of a mystery to batters. Kuldeep Yadav’s success in the IPL and for India is evidence that such a skillset can win you matches. In 2023, MI had picked another left-arm wristspinner, Raghav Goyal from Haryana, but he only played one match.”He had a very good action,” Sekar says about Vignesh. “He was flighting the ball well, and spinning both ways. I always go for a good technique and [see] if a bowler has variations. I observed both of those factors during the two matches I saw Vignesh in before recommending him for trials.”At the trials, Vignesh bowled with a bit more zip, was accurate, and showed he had a good googly, too.MI sent Vignesh, who turned 24 earlier this month, to South Africa earlier this year to hone his skills by bowling in the nets to the MI Cape Town batters in the SA20 league. Before IPL 2025, Vignesh also played in the DY Patil T20 Invitations Trophy in Navi Mumbai, where the domestic Indian players in the MI ranks usually feature. That experience might have come in handy on his IPL debut.Vignesh Puthur is mobbed by his Mumbai Indians team-mates after taking a wicket•AFP/Getty ImagesMI lost the match, but Vignesh’s three-wicket haul, with the scalps of CSK captain Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shivam Dube and Deepak Hooda – all of them internationals – impressed everyone and earned him a pat on the shoulder from MS Dhoni after the game.The big positive for Vignesh, who is simultaneously pursuing his MA in English, was that he did not seem overwhelmed by the occasion at any stage, and was confident about what he was doing in front a packed Chepauk.Sekar saw that as well. “In his first big match, in front a really big crowd, he held his own and was deceiving batters in the air.”Dube’s wicket was a classic example. CSK retained the left-hand batter specifically for his ability to demolish spin, but Vignesh lured Dube out with his flight and then the dip did not allow the batter the space to create power and he was caught on the straight boundary.

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Vignesh’s parents as well as Vijayakumar say that he is a quiet person who likes his own company more than anyone else’s. Bindu, in a chat with PTI this week, said that her son was emotional in the hours leading up to his debut. “He called us around midnight after the match and then again he called after an hour. He was so happy. I have never seen him so happy. We also could not sleep because of our happiness.”Sunil hopes that Vignesh can continue his schooling in cricket at MI. “MI are a good team. We want Vignesh to keep moving forward at the franchise.”