Unfortunate end to Kerala spinner Vignesh Puthur's breakout season in IPL

Mumbai Indians have suffered a major setback in their IPL 2025 campaign, with exciting young spinner Vignesh Puthur being ruled out for the remainder of the season due to injury.

Hailing from Kerala, the left-arm wrist spinner made a strong impression for Mumbai this season, taking six wickets in the tournament, including a three-wicket haul in his debut match against Chennai Super Kings. "Get well soon, Vignesh. Your '#OneFamily' wishes you a speedy recovery and we can't wait to see you back on the field soon," Mumbai Indians said on a post on X. 

Meanwhile, Mumbai have signed leg-spinner Raghu Sharma as a replacement for Vignesh, making it his maiden IPL campaign.

Despite featuring in only five matches, Vignesh consistently delivered impactful performances whenever given the opportunity. He played a crucial role in breaking vital partnerships whenever the team needed it most and was always at the call of his captain. 

Against RCB, Vignesh was introduced in the 10th over when Virat Kohli and Devdutt Padikkal were going strong. Kohli smashed the youngster for a six to bring up his half-century, but Vignesh stayed calm and removed Padikkal in the last ball of the over. The left-hand batter tried to go big, but the ball was slower than he expected, and it dipped on him late, resulting in a smart catch on the ropes by Will Jacks. That was the end of a 91-run partnership for the second wicket.

In the match against Lucknow Super Giants, he was introduced right after the powerplay (7th over) with openers Mitchell Marsh (60) and Aiden Markram (7) in the middle. After three dot balls, Markram slogged one for a six before taking a single. Vignesh faced the in-form Marsh, who was going at a strike rate of 200, but the Australian failed to read a wrong'un and gave a catch in the deep.

Vignesh, who is yet to play for Kerala's senior team, recently set a record for the fastest Kerala bowler to five IPL wickets.