Kerala batter who went for nearly ₹1 crore in IPL 2025 auction yet to get a look in

A few days before the start of IPL 2025, Punjab Kings posted a video featuring their spin bowling coach, Sunil Joshi, drawing attention to Kerala batter Vishnu Vinod practising his big hits. "Watch out for this guy," he said.

Two months later, on May 26, when Punjab played their final league game of the season against Mumbai Indians in Jaipur, Vishnu had yet to make an appearance. He was occasionally pictured during training and in transit as the team travelled, but never in the middle executing the shots he was seen perfecting in the nets.

Punjab paid ₹90 lakh to sign up the stylish opener at the auction in November. They outbid Kolkata Knight Riders and Mumbai Indians to secure his services. It was the highest amount paid for a Kerala cricketer as the other two auction picks, Sachin Baby and Vignesh Puthur, cost Sunrisers Hyderabad and Mumbai Indians respectively just the base price of ₹30 lakh each.

S Sreesanth had predicted that Vishnu would make waves with Punjab this season. “He is an attacking player. He is one player who has been waiting in the wings. Even in Kerala, he's got more hundreds than most of the first-class players,” Sreesanth told Onmanorama in March.

But like his state captain Sachin, Vishnu was unlucky to be drafted into a franchise with good batting depth. With Punjab's top order almost always scoring big runs, Vishnu could only make the bench in a few matches.

Before the IPL season, Vishnu had struggled for runs with Kerala in the Syed Mushtaq Trophy T20s. But that is not uncommon, considering most domestic players want to avoid injury before the mega event.

However, all is not lost for the right-hand wicketkeeper batter as Punjab have booked their place in the playoffs. Going with a glass-half-full outlook, one might want to believe Ricky Ponting has plans to use Vishnu as a surprise package in the knockouts. If not, both Kerala batters picked from the auction would end IPL 2025 without facing a ball.