'Wasn't fazed by anything we've thrown at him' - Mahela Jayawardene lauds Vignesh Puthur

Mahela Jayawardene has opened up on the strategy behind playing left-arm wrist-spinner Vignesh Puthur against Chennai Super Kings in IPL 2025. Notably, Puthur had a brilliant debut in the IPL, as he claimed 3/32 in his spell of four overs against CSK. 

The MI head coach reckoned the young Puthur has all the necessary skills and likes to on the challenges thrown at him. "It's just the skill set. He wasn't fazed by anything we've thrown at him. That's a good thing about him. Yes, it was unknown for us because he hadn't played, but I thought he held his nerves and bowled brilliantly," Mahela said while speaking to the media members.

He added that the youngster is still in a learning phase and needs to gain experience by playing regularly "It's a learning process. He needs to start from ball one again, and he understands that, and we're just building for that."

Also Read: IPL 2025: Why is Vignesh Puthur not playing in GT vs MI Match 9?

He was ready, and always going to play for Mumbai: Mahela Jayawardene

Jayawardene also claimed that Puthur was always going to play for MI, whether it was against CSK, or in the later part of the tournament, or the upcoming season. 

"We just felt that whether it's the last game or whether it's the 10th game or whether it's next year, he was always going to play for Mumbai and he was ready to play," Mahela stated.

The former Sri Lanka player also said the team combination and the nature of the surface in Chennai ensured Puthur's debut. He concluded by saying his skill sets suited Chepauk's playing conditions.

"Given the combination that we wanted to play, once we went to Chennai, we saw the wicket as well, and we felt that it suited his skill set for him to play that game," he concluded.