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Mohammed Shareef, who used to attend cricket coaching, recognised the talent in Vignesh Puthur when he saw the young kid play at the age of 11 near their home in Malappuram district of Kerala.
Vignesh Puthur celebrates the dismissal of Chennai Super Kings’ Shivam Dube (Picture credit: AP)
Mumbai Indians spinner Vignesh Puthur’s friend Mohammed Shareef revealed that the youngster initially used to bowl medium pace. Still, once the latter identified his capabilities as a leg spinner, he asked him to make the switch, which has now made Vignesh the toast of the town.
Shareef, who used to attend cricket coaching, recognised the talent in the 23-year-old when he saw the young kid play at the age of 11 near their home in the Malappuram district of Kerala.
Vignesh, who hasn’t yet played any domestic cricket for his state, was picked up by Mumbai in the IPL 2025 mega-auction, and although he couldn’t inspire his team to a win, his three-wicket haul earned him widespread praise.
“He used to bowl medium pace initially. I told him to try leg spin instead, as it could be beneficial for him if he was good at it. I was myself an off spinner, so I told him some of the technical aspects of spin bowling,” Shareef said while speaking to a TV channel.
“But he became good at it very quickly due to his diligence, and so I suggested that he go to a cricket camp. I spoke to his parents, and for the next 2-3 years, we used to go to the camps together,” Shareef added.
Vignesh’s friend, who is an ustad, or a religious teacher, spoke to the media just after the former revealed Shareef’s role in guiding him in the direction of becoming a chinaman bowler.
When Shareef was guiding Vignesh in the direction of left-arm leg-spin, he didn’t know at that time that it was called chinaman bowling, a rarity in the sport.
“I did not know back then that it was called chinaman. When he started playing, he was probably the only chinaman bowler in India. The only other player I knew of who bowled like that was the Australian spinner Brad Hogg,” Shareef said.
Defending a paltry 156, Vignesh helped break the 67-run partnership between Rachin Ravindra and Chennai skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad, dismissing the latter, who was batting on 53.
In his next over, Vignesh dismissed the hard-hitting Shivam Dube for just nine runs and then Deepak Hooda for just three runs in the 12th over of Chennai’s innings, to finish with brilliant figures of 4-0-32-3.