MS Dhoni listens to Vignesh Puthur, then makes his day with million-dollar gesture: ‘He will never forget this day’

Vignesh Puthur, a 24-year-old spinner, created an impact on his IPL debut for Mumbai Indians as he claimed the big wickets of Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shivam Dube and Deepak Hooda in the big-wicket clash against Chennai Super Kings.

The Kerala spinner was chosen as the Impact Substitute by Mumbai Indians in their tournament opener as he replaced former skipper Rohit Sharma on the field in the second innings. He was the standout bowler for MI, who lost their opening match of the season for the 13th straight year.

He made sure legendary CSK wicketkeeper Mahendra Singh Dhoni got his attention with a power-pack performance. The former CSK skipper came out to bat in the penultimate over and faced a couple of balls. However, it was Rachin Ravindra who hit the finishing six and sealed the game for the hosts.

After winning the match, Dhoni and Rachin Ravindra shook hands with the opposition players, and that’s when the ex-IND skipper met Vignesh and patted him on the back.

Former India coach Ravi Shastri was on the mic when the incident occurred and he said,”Pat on the shoulder for young Vignesh Puthur. I don’t think he will forget it for a long time.”

Meanwhile, CSK skipper Gaikwad became Vignesh’s first-ever victim in IPL as he broke the crucial 67-run stand, which pulled Mumbai back in the game.

In his next two overs, he got the better of Dube and Hooda to give Mumbai a fighting chance in the game. However, Mumbai failed to take advantage of it as they desperately missed Jasprit Bumrah’s services with the ball.

‘Vinesh a product of MI scouting process’

MI stand-in skipper Surykumar Yadav hailed the team’s scouting process as they identified Vignesh, and the team went ahead and signed him in atthe auction.

“Amazing, MI is known for that – giving youngsters opportunities, the scouts do this for 10 months and he (Vignesh) is a product of that,” Surya told broadcasters after MI lost the match.

He further shared his plan to give the young spinner a crucial 18th over in the game where he leaked 15 runs.

“I kept his one over in the pocket if the game went deep, but it was a no-brainer to give him the 18th over,” he added.