How many times have we seen a batsman giving himself a chance and smashing a Mohammed Shami delivery out of the park at extra cover? Not much.
The spectators at the Wankhede Stadium witnessed the extraordinary shot when Vishnu Vinod of Mumbai Indians smashed a hammer into the stands of Shami in this edition of IPL 2023.
The shot took everyone by surprise for the Kerala batsman, but his home team coach Tinu Yohannan was not amused. Vishnu’s 20-ball 30 was overshadowed by a brilliant ton from Suryakumar Yadav and an all-round performance from Rashid Khan, who first hit a four and then scored an unbeaten 79 off 32 balls, but the right-handed batsman played fluently and allowed Surya to bat. Gave a chance to For a long time in that critical stability.
Yohannan, who has seen Vishnu closely in the domestic circuit, was impressed when he saw the batsman for the first time 6-7 years ago.
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“I saw him at least 6-7 years ago and the first glimpse I got was that he has got some extra talent which can take him to the next level, especially the kind of shots he had in his armor. He had the timing and the pace of his bat. This gave me an idea that there is something extraordinary in him.
Vishnu has been playing for Kerala for a long time and finally got his chance with that knock for Mumbai Indians.
“He hasn’t been in the Kerala system for almost 8 years, but considering the kind of talent he has, progress has been slow. I think the place he comes from, Pathanamthitta, he has the facilities and everything to practice. But the exposure you get from there is very less. It is because of his talent that he has been able to play on and off the Indian Premier League (IPL). This is the year where he at least got a chance to showcase his talent in that MI game against Gujarat Titans where he scored 30 off 20 balls.
switch in the middle order
Vishnu always wanted to open the innings for Kerala but Yohannan saw a finisher in him. The right-handed batsman had opened the innings in white-ball matches for Kerala last year but the returns were not encouraging. He scored 140 runs in 8 SMAT fixtures in the 2022-23 season.
“He always wanted to open in the Kerala setup but I suggested him to play in the middle order. The position he played for MI, I wanted him to play for Kerala in the same position and he played for his state team. Has done well at that position as well for ODIs. Still he always wanted to take the opening position. Last year we gave him a place in Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy as well as a few matches in Vijay Hazare Trophy. Couldn’t perform well down the order. I always considered him a finisher. For me he is someone who can finish matches for us. He has that ability,” revealed Yohannan.
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Sensing an opening for a finisher in the senior team, Yohannan felt Vishnu would be more suited to that position.
He said, ‘If you see the number of openers in India, there is a lot of competition. But talking about the finisher’s role, we had MS Dhoni first, then Hardik Pandya and Rishabh Pant were batting in that position. So there is a vacancy at that place. Now, Rinku Singh is doing well and has come on the scene for that post. Otherwise, I do not see many names there who can finish the match.
For Yohannan, a finisher is a batsman who can clear the ropes at will and he saw that in Vishnu.
“Look, a finisher means that the batsman should have the ability to clear boundaries, no matter where in the world they are playing. Vishnu is someone who can clear any boundary on his day and he has those strokes too. That’s one of the reasons I suggested him to take that role on the side,” Yohannan said.
clearing exercise
Asked if the Kerala batsman follows any specific drills to strengthen his game, Yohannan said, “He does his drills. What I have observed is that he takes a lot of clearing practice. Also, he is a player who likes to bat for long hours in the nets as well. Apart from this, he has also improved his sweep and reverse sweep. He was working on this for a long time. He used to play sweep many times before but he has also used reverse sweep.
The 44-year-old also talked about Vishnu’s knack of batting at pace, whether in the middle or at the top.
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“Vishnu bats like that even when he is opening. He has a habit of starting fast. He doesn’t have any other method. It was only in one Vijay Hazare Trophy last year where he took a little longer. In fact, there was a match against Maharashtra where we were 120/6 chasing 280 and he batted in the middle order to take us over the line. He played an exceptional innings to bring up his hundred and take us past the boundary. The brilliant innings he played was brilliant. Also, in the Ranji Trophy against Gujarat, he scored a hundred last year and won the game for us.
He said, ‘He has a habit of converting his tons into big hundreds because he keeps batting. He is a match winner but you can expect him to win matches is only two out of 10 games,” said Yohannan.
IPL journey
Vishnu last played in the Indian Premier League in 2017 where he was capped just thrice. Why did it take so long for his next IPL appearance? Yohannan feels it all depends on the dynamics and composition of the team.
He said, ‘Look, a lot depends on the team composition and dynamics. When they choose Vishnu, he is chosen as the second wicket-keeper batsman. Here he has been picked as a backup for Ishan Kishan, earlier when he was picked for Sunrisers Hyderabad, you had Wriddhiman Saha. He is not really considered a regular finisher.”
The former India pacer praised Mumbai Indians for giving Vishnu a chance and the freedom to express himself in the middle order.
Hats off to MI that they recognized his talent and gave him a few games. It’s really good to see. And he has a lot of potential to play at a high level,” Yohannan said.
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When opportunities were not coming in the IPL, Vishnu was not losing sleep and focused on the things that were in his control.
“Look, I think he’s someone who really doesn’t think about tomorrow too much and I think it’s a blessing for him. He’s that kind of personality and he does what’s in his control. He wants to perform well in every game and give his 100 per cent in every game. He was not that much worried. He always knew that he has the talent and if he performs, he will be selected, Yohannan said.
“My only point is that the kind of talent he is, he could have got more chances in the IPL in the last five years. If he had got those chances, he would have got into controversy somewhere or at least his name would have been talked about,” he added.
Yohannan wants Vishnu to be more consistent in winning matches to stay in the limelight and keep featuring in the playing XI of IPL teams.
“Those who have got selected in IPL are constantly winning games for their teams. They’ve been consistent. But when it comes to Vishnu, even for Kerala, he has won a match or two across formats. He is a match-winner on his day but more consistency in these formats would have given him more chances.