NEW DELHI: Standing 6-foot-5, R. Sai Kishore has a distinctive presence at the crease and a habit of landing accurate deliveries. After a standout IPL-2025 spell with Gujarat Titans—where he claimed 19 wickets from 15 matches—the Tamil Nadu left-arm spinner is now in a waiting phase as IPL-2026 gets underway, still searching for the right moment to return to the playing XI.
Key takeaways
- Sai Kishore finished IPL-2025 with 19 wickets in 15 appearances for Gujarat Titans.
- Despite not yet featuring in the playing XI in IPL-2026, the 29-year-old says team priorities come before personal ambition.
- He expects conditions in IPL to evolve, with spinners likely to become more influential as pitches change.
- His on-field approach focuses on clear responsibility—especially providing control for the captain—backed by flexible decision-making.
- He believes instinct still matters even in a data-heavy T20 era, with numbers only part of the picture.
Waiting for the right conditions, with team first
Speaking in an interview facilitated by Gujarat Titans on Tuesday, Sai Kishore stressed that cricket is fundamentally a team pursuit. “Cricket is not an individual sport, it’s a team sport,” he said. “At the end of the day, you celebrate the trophy and you celebrate winning the IPL, so the team should always come first in every decision.” He added that leadership also demands understanding that hierarchy. While acknowledging the disappointment of missing the playing XI early on, he insisted he would get his chance once the playing conditions favour more spin.
With 32 IPL wickets to his name, the left-arm spinner underlined how T20 contests are shaped by pitch and weather. He noted that IPL has often begun with batting-friendly surfaces, and that IPL-2026 has shown similar early trends. However, he expects a shift as the tournament progresses. “IPL is a very dynamic tournament,” he said, pointing to how the way matches unfold—and how wickets behave—determines the bowling combinations. As games move forward, he believes deteriorating surfaces and rising heat gradually bring spinners into play across the league, not just for Gujarat Titans.
Control, reading moments, and balancing attack with defence
For a bowler on flat decks, the challenge is to hold things together while still finding opportunities to take wickets. Sai Kishore credited “role clarity” from the franchise as a key factor in executing that balance. “My role has been clearly mentioned and that is to provide control to the captain,” he said. “When the role is made clear, it becomes easier for a player to express his full potential.”
When it comes to how he actually applies that control, he relies more on situational reading than on a fixed script. “A lot depends on player to player, and situation to situation,” he explained. “If a batter is well set, you may want to take him off strike and keep things more defensive. If someone is new at the crease, you look for a wicket.” He said the deciding factor is the quality of judgment in that moment—on that day, on that wicket—so a bowler can switch between attacking and defending at the right time.
Instinct over numbers, and a preparation-first mindset
In modern T20 cricket, match-ups and analytics are central, and Sai Kishore—who has captained Tamil Nadu in domestic cricket—feels that data alone cannot define the game. “No matter what kind of data you follow, your instincts always precede,” he said. “At that moment, what you feel is what you’re going to do. Data is important, knowing the game is important, but trusting your instincts—your inner voice—is what this game is all about.”
On the international stage, he has already tasted success. His T20I debut came during India’s gold medal-winning run at the 2023 Asian Games, where he delivered a memorable semifinal performance against Bangladesh, finishing with figures of 3/12. Yet, he has not managed to return to the Indian team in any format since then. Rather than fixating on selection, his focus is on personal improvement and “absolute” readiness.
He believes that to remain relevant as a spinner—particularly in India—one must be rounded across all facets. “To be relevant as a spinner, especially in India, you have to be able to hold yourself in all three facets of the game,” he said. “You have to be a brilliant fielder, you have to be decent with the bat, which is not a very easy task. So, in that desire to play for the country, you naturally improve yourself to be a better cricketer.”
His motivation is built around continuous work rather than waiting for external confirmation. “I feel I just have to make my garden very beautiful,” he said, describing his approach as ongoing preparation and skill-building. “I have to keep working on my game and be ready with the skill sets. And whenever a chance comes—more often than not when you’re absolutely ready—the chance comes. I think it will just happen on its own accord.”
Until then, he wants to enjoy the process and stay mentally balanced. “Until then, I want to enjoy my game,” Sai Kishore added. “I want to be very happy mentally, skillfully, emotionally, physically and everything.”
