Vishnu Vinod played three IPL matches for MI in 2023 | PC- AFP
On Wednesday, the IPL confirmed the mother of all trades, with MI and PBKS locking a deal to exchange Hardik Pandya and Arshdeep Singh.
As the curtains finally closed on the Hardik Pandya trade, quite a zillion theories were proven wrong.
Why didn't PBKS trade Vishnu Vinod to MI?
Allegedly, it was reported that Punjab were asked to trade Arshdeep Singh, along with wicketkeeper Vishnu Vinod, in exchange for the former MI captain Hardik Pandya. However, it didn’t happen, as Pandya’s fee was increased from INR 16.35 crore to match Arshdeep’s INR 18 crore.
Although the other metrics behind Vinod’s trade not locking are not out yet, there are reports with regards to that.
According to the Sportstar, it was Punjab Kings who weren’t keen on trading the wicketkeeper-batter from Kerala, as the franchise doesn’t have a backup keeping option to Prabhsimran Singh.
“With the two headline names (Arshdeep Singh and Hardik Pandya) now valued identically, there was no gap in value for a third player to fill,” the report said.
“The franchises therefore dropped the option of including Vinod, who stays with Punjab Kings as a reserve wicketkeeper,” it added.
Vishnu Vinod's rather unfortunate IPL journey
Over the years, Vishnu Vinod, a sound keeper and an explosive batter, has featured in various IPL franchises - RCB, Delhi Capitals, SRH, and Mumbai Indians in IPL 2023. He joined the Punjab franchise in 2025 and has been with them since then.
However, he hasn’t had much taste of IPL fever, with just seven outings in his almost decade-long career.
That said, the domestic cricket giant has been blistering T20 runs, smashing 1772 runs in 68 innings at a strike rate of 143, with a best of 109 not out.
As PBKS doesn't have too many keeping options, it would be interesting to see whether Vishnu Vinod, who got just one game last season, will get his due chances in the coming season.
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