Forgotten Kerala opener makes Punjab Kings debut as ‘impact sub’ at No 8
Vishnu Vinod made his Punjab Kings debut almost at the end of his second season with the franchise.
Vishnu Vinod made his Punjab Kings debut almost at the end of his second season with the franchise.
Vishnu Vinod made his Punjab Kings debut almost at the end of his second season with the franchise.
After a full season and 12 games into another, Kerala opener Vishnu Vinod finally made his Punjab Kings debut in unusual circumstances.
Vishnu was brought in as an impact substitute with Punjab at 140/7 against the Mumbai Indians. He scored an unbeaten 15 off 8, playing his part in helping Punjab post a fighting 200/8. For a batter who is used to opening the innings, Vishnu did well in an emergency situation down the order.
Punjab had to sacrifice Prabhsimran Singh to bring in the Kerala wicketkeeper batter with 22 balls left. He punched Corbin Bosch for a boundary through mid off to show his potential, and then got lucky as Robin Minz dropped a flat one on the boundary, and sent it over for a six.
Ahead of the season, Vishnu was the only Kerala player retained by an IPL franchise. Rajasthan Royals traded Sanju Samson to Chennai Super Kings and got Vignesh Puthur from MI. Punjab had secured the services of Vishnu for ₹90 lakh at the mega auction last year.
Before tonight, Vishnu and Vignesh were the two Kerala players without game time this season. Vignesh, who had a breakout year with MI in 2025 with six wickets, has yet to get a look in.
Meanwhile, Sanju Samson, the third Keralite in IPL 2026, has been in spectacular form with his new franchise, Chennai Super Kings. Sanju has scored 430 runs from 11 innings, with two centuries and a fifty.