Vignesh Puthur

Son of an autorickshaw driver, Vignesh Puthur began his cricketing journey at the tender age of 11 and tried his hand at left-arm wrist spin at the advice of a local club cricketer. Hailing from Perinthalmanna in Mallapuram, he further nurtured his skills at the Mallapuram District Cricket Academy and represented Kerala in junior age-group levels like Under-14 and Under-19 tournaments.

Shaping his skillset to become an effective ‘chinaman’ bowler, his unique craft garnered enough attention for him to get invited into three separate Mumbai Indians trials in the lead-up to the IPL 2025 mega auction. As per his own admission, the 23-year-old received invaluable inputs from Mumbai Indians head coach Mahela Jayawardene during the trials, all while bowling to the likes of Hardik Pandya in the nets.

A self-proclaimed fan of seasoned Indian spinner and 2024 T20 World Cup winner Kuldeep Yadav, Vignesh Puthur, once claimed in an interview that he closely examines the senior cricketer’s bowling but has never tried to copy him because of their different bowling styles. 
Puthur’s audition at the Mumbai Indians tryouts ended up working out in his favour, as he was snapped by the franchise for his base price of Rs. 30 lakhs on the day of the auction reckoning in November 2024.

(As of January 2025)