India, Dec. 18 -- Vishal Nishad, a 20-year-old mystery spinner from Uttar Pradesh, was an unknown entity for most people before Tuesday. However, former Australian skipper and Punjab Kings head coach Ricky Ponting had a clue and that is why the young bowler is in the plans of the franchise for the upcoming season of the cash-rich Indian Premier League.

The son of a painter from a small village Madraha, just 13 km away from Gorakhpur, Nishad started playing with leather ball just four years ago, and within a few months, he became an integral part of Gorakhpur Lions, a franchise in the UPT20 League and in two consecutive seasons, the boy made a mark by bagging six and eight wickets.

But this wasn't enough to help him make the cut for an I...