E-Paper
Mystery spinner Vishal Nishad keen for a step up
The 22-year-old is keen to impress in the UPT20 League starting on Friday and in IPL for Punjab Kings to build his reputation
Vishal Nishad’s rise from Gorakhpur’s dusty nets to an IPL contract is the sort of story that keeps talent scouts awake at night. The 22-year-old mystery spinner first caught attention in local circuits due to an unorthodox action and the ability to make batters misread flight and turn.
With four wickets in the second season of the UPT20 League and five wickets in last year’s edition, Nishad is ready to deliver for Gorakhpur Lions this time and aims to attract IPL scouts this season. The fourth edition of the UPT20 League begins here on Friday.
“I want to make this year’s UPT20L a big season for me as I know that a good season in the IPL next season can open Team India’s doors for me in future,” Nishad said on Monday ahead of the team’s training at the Galaxy Sports Ground.
“While playing tennis ball cricket in a village at the outskirts of Gorakhpur, I never thought of getting an IPL contract. But now I feel that I can go beyond IPL also, if I do well in UPT20L and the next IPL season,” Nishad, the son of a mason, said.
It was UP pacer Ankit Rajpoot as the scout for Punjab Kings in 2024 who flagged Nishad’s potential to a wider audience, spotting subtle variations in his grip and the calmness with which he set up batters during a local tournament.
That endorsement encouraged PBKS to pick him in the IPL 2026 auction for Rs.30 lakh. Nishad bowls with a compact, repeatable action that hides multiple grips and pivot points.
He fits the classic developmental prospect profile, and the IPL environment will expose him to elite coaching and the pressure of performing under lights — conditions that can transform a promising mystery spinner into a potent match-winner.
“It was Ricky Ponting Sir (PBKS coach) and Sairaj Bahutule who backed me at the time of selection for Punjab Kings and taught me finer points of the game during the nets,” said Nishad. “Though I didn’t get to play a match last season, I learnt many things, including a change in my approach as I got to interact with many big cricketers.
“I wasn’t that accurate when I first held a cricket ball in my hand as it was quite heavy compared to a tennis ball at the age of 10. But I never lost my grip and it helped me to bowl accurately after a few months of training,” he said. “In my early days in my village, I had no option of playing cricket with the hard ball as my two brothers and even my father used to play with the tennis ball.
Nishad is a fan of West Indies’ Sunil Narine and Varun Chakravarthy. “These two are my biggest inspirations, I want to become like them.”
For players like him, UPT20 is more than a feeder competition. Here, he can demonstrate his adaptability, bowl in different phases, execute plans against aggressive openers, and handle fielding pressure. Tidy, wicket-taking spells in UPT20 League would validate PBKS’ assessment and amplify his stock.
“At times he appears to be aiming a conventional off-break as the ball then skids or drifts, creating doubt in the batter’s mind. His stock delivery is a loopy arm-ball disguised as a wrong ’un…,” Gorakhpur Lions’ chief coach Rajpoot said on Monday. “That makes him particularly valuable in white-ball cricket, where forcing a single indecisive shot often yields the breakthrough.”
