It’s okay, Paltan. Losing a season opener can always be disappointing and more so when it's an El Clásico.

👉 Read the match report here

But let’s look on the brighter side. Today’s proceedings were all about the hidden gem Vignesh Puthur making a mark on his debut, picking up three crucial wickets in the second innings to keep us in the game right until the very end.

…And the applause, of course, poured in from everywhere, praising the 24-year-old spinner on a terrific performance.

In the post-match press conference, our bowling coach Paras Mhambrey gave an analysis of the Curious Case of Vignesh Puthur, beginning with complementing our ever-present scouts.

“So you’ve got to complement our scouting guys,” he began.

“We have good guys who can spot talent. The idea has always been with MI to see potential more than anything else. When he saw him [Vignesh Puthur] at the trials, we saw the potential rather than looking at how much cricket he has played in the past. It is never easy, the first game against CSK… It was a big game.”

“But purely the way he responded, hats off to him. He was able to hold onto his nerves and handle pressure superbly. He really got us into the game. I am very happy about his performance,” Mhambrey said.

Furthermore, the bowling coach revealed how Vignesh’s impressive net sessions led to the decision to fast-track him into the Playing XI. 💪

“When Rohit, Surya and Tilak batted against him, they felt he wasn’t that easy. It was one of the reasons we had the confidence to push him in this game. It was a good decision in the end.”

“I think it's unique. You see all chinaman bowlers, Kuldeep prior to this, has done well. The idea was how to use him & how we can work on him in terms of the potential he has shown. Those are the things we saw. Yes, he spins the ball, pretty consistent, lands the ball and is pretty accurate. Those are the tick marks we look into. Not just on that, but even the fact that he is different, spins the ball and has a googly. You know he will be able to trouble quality batters with the skill he has.”

“Yes, he hadn’t played much cricket. But we had the opportunity to work with him after we had a couple of trials. A lot of guys were working, MJ [Mahela Jayawardene] is out here. A lot of international guys had a chat with him, understanding what the requirement is. His skill is pretty much sorted. But just the opportunity he had with MJ, Pollard, Rohit, Surya, really helped him understand his role and what we expect out of him in the team. He understands the team culture and how we want to play our cricket, and that really helps,” he said.

Meanwhile, Paras Mhambrey also backed Deepak Chahar’s all-round effort, especially at a venue where he was familiar with the conditions, having played for CSK in the past.

“I think Deepak has done this in the past, you know, he does bowl the new ball and that's the role we have had for him. But we look at it very differently. If you look at the numbers, Deepak has good numbers in the death as well. So he's gone under the radar many times.

On being asked about Bumrah’s much-anticipated comeback, Mhambrey was optimistic about the pacer’s comeback in the near future!

“I would just say that his upper bit is doing well. Whatever information that we got for the NCA, I'm really happy with this progress.”

“I wouldn't dwell into the time frame right now as I leave it for the management team to coordinate with the NCA. So in that sense, they are pretty happy. Fingers crossed. So we definitely would want him since he's a big part of Mumbai Indians, you know, success for many years and we definitely would want him in the team,” he concluded.

Right then, it’s time to get back to the drawing board and put in the hard yards in our quest to make a comeback in our next game, scheduled to take place in Ahmedabad against the Gujarat Titans on Saturday, 29 March.