Who is Vishnu Vinod? - All you need to know about Mumbai Indians’ new star

Hailing from Kerala, the 29-year-old Vishnu Vinod played three matches in the Indian Premier League before making his debut for Mumbai Indians against Gujarat Titans on May 12 at the Wankhede Stadium. Notably, the wicketkeeper-batter has significant experience of playing the domestic arena as the cricketer played 50 T20 matches, scoring 1191 runs at a strike rate of 138.81.

He made his T20 debut against Karnataka in April 2014, when he scored 33 off 35. Slowly and steadily, the right-handed batter lived up to his potential as Royal Challengers Bangalore signed him in 2017. He represented the Virat Kohli-led side in three matches but could score only 19 runs at a strike rate of 73.07.

Other than RCB, Vishnu was also a part of the Sunrisers Hyderabad and Delhi Capitals franchises but never got an opportunity to feature in the playing XI. Meanwhile, he ground harder in the domestic circuit, playing all three formats and making a significant impact. Looking at his recent performances, the five-time champions Mumbai Indians signed the cricketer for INR 20 lakh in the mini-auction and in his very first match for the side, the cricketer impressed everyone with some brilliant strokes.

Vishnu Vinod announce himself in the cash-rich league

Batting first, Mumbai Indians started well as skipper Rohit Sharma and Ishan Kishan set the tone of the match. However, Rashid Khan dismissed both of them in a single over and thus, there was a lot of pressure on the home side. In-form batter Nehal Wadhera too walked back to the pavilion and that is when Vishnu Vinod came and made a significant impact.

Along with flamboyant batter Suryakumar Yadav, Vishnu built a partnership of 65 runs and that bailed Mumbai out of a difficult situation. Batting at number five, he went on to score 30 runs off 20 deliveries, while Suryakumar smashed 103* runs off 49 deliveries as Mumbai went on post 218 runs in 20 overs.