Most people are going to play off Rashid Khan and come after me and that makes the challenge more exciting: R Sai Kishore

Sai Kishore (Source -IPL)

The Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad witnessed an edge-of-the-seat thriller on Sunday, March 24 as Gujarat Titans (GT) defeated Mumbai Indians (MI) by six runs in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024.

Left-arm spinner R Sai Kishore played a key role for the Titans as he stemmed the flow of runs through the middle overs and gave his team a huge breakthrough when he dismissed a well-set Rohit Sharma for 43. The pitch wasn’t the easiest to bat on in the first innings, as the ball wasn’t coming on nicely onto the bat. However, with the arrival of dew in the second innings, batting became a tad easier.

Sai Kishore said that he was surprised with the amount of purchase he was getting off the surface with the wet ball. He spoke about his game plan where he mixed his pace and tried to bowl slower through the air.

“I was actually expecting dew to play a major role. The ball was wet, but for some strange reason, the ball was still holding on the wicket. Usually it slides on, but I was surprised by the amount of purchase I was getting. So I tried to go into the wicket and mix my pace, and go slower through the air,” Sai Kishore was quoted as saying by ESPNcricinfo.

The Tamil Nadu spinner played just five games in IPL 2022 and last year, he didn’t get a single game. However, he has managed to make a mark in Gujarat’s first game, finishing with excellent figures of 1/24 from his four overs. Sai Kishore noted that the pitch was two-paced and therefore the Titan’s bowlers decided to bowl into the surface instead of going for the yorkers.

“Because the wicket was two-paced, we tried to go into the wicket a lot more, trust our length a lot more than directly going for yorkers. That resulted in getting a lot of wickets. It was attacking bowling even if the situation was otherwise,” Sai Kishore said.

Also Read: IPL 2024: Jay Shah, Ishan Kishan spotted chatting after GT vs MI clash, video goes viral

One of the strengths of this team is everyone sticks together: R Sai Kishore

Sai Kishore said that he is enjoying the challenge of playing the secondary role in the spin department with the talismanic Rashid Khan in the line-up. He knows that opposition batters will be looking to play out the Afghanistan spinner and try to attack him. However, the 27-year-old is not backing down from the challenge.

“In the other teams where play, I usually do the lead role. To do the second role makes it even more exciting. Most people are going to play off Rashid and come after me. That makes the challenge more exciting. That sync [with Rashid] is there, we discuss the game very well. One of the strengths of this team is everyone sticks together. Jayant [Yadav, the off spinner] also used to come in [as a reserve player] and say ‘do this, do that, it’s going good.’ The communication is always there, which is superb,” Sai Kishore said.

The Tamil Nadu cricketer reckoned that the Titans were 10 runs short as they managed to score 168/6 in their 20 overs after Mumbai Indians captain Hardik Pandya invited them to bat first. However, the Chennai-born lauded head coach Ashish Nehra for creating an environment in the team where everyone is willing to compete instead of worrying about the results.

“We felt we were 10 short, but the thing about this whole team and how it has been run over the last two years is we give a lot of emphasis to competing. Whether we win or lose, we’re proud of the way we play. We competed really well. That was the talk given by [head coach] Ashish Nehra as well. All credit to the culture he has set up over the last two years. People are not thinking about the result [alone], they’re focusing about competing and staying in the game,” Kishore stated.

Sai Kishore finished as the second-highest wicket-taker in the Ranji Trophy 2024 with 53 wickets from nine games at an average of 18.53. He led Tamil Nadu to their first Ranji Trophy semi-final appearance since the 2016-2017 season. He said that he usually bowls one-over spells during the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy but is relishing the challenge of bowling four overs on the trot for his IPL franchise.

“With the Impact Player rule, we’re playing six bowlers. I’m getting the role where I’m bowling four overs on the trot in the middle. I’m open to bowling one-over spells. In [the Syed] Mushtaq Ali [Trophy] or TNPL, that’s how I use my overs but with the quality of bowlers we have, I’m getting to bowl four overs which I’m enjoying,” Kishore said.

Also Read: GT vs MI: Dog runs past Hardik Pandya to interrupt play during match, video goes viral