Sai Kishore set to make an impact for Tamil Nadu in the upcoming Ranji Trophy

21-year old R. Sai Kishore didn’t miss out on the opportunity to polish his craft ahead of his Ranji Trophy debut. With four India internationals in the team- Ravichandran Ashwin, Abhinav Mukund, Dinesh Karthik and Murali Vijay; the spinner presented his case with utmost intensity. Tamil Nadu will play their first match against Andhra Pradesh on October 6.

Sai Kishore bowled in tight lines and beat the edge of the bat on many occasions. The youngster spoke to Sportstar and shared his thoughts on the season ahead. He said that the presence of the veterans encourages him to do well.

“I haven’t been told anything about my debut yet. I am enjoying this phase. It is good to be in the mix of things, especially when the international players are around. I have a lot to look and imbibe,” Kishore said, after sweating it out under the sun.

“I have the adaptability required to shift from one format to the other. I have also been in the thick of things, playing the TNCA league games and the Buchi Babu games, so I am always in the groove,” the tweaker added.

Last year and now

The promising youngster was in the Ranji squad last year but didn’t make the cut in the final eleven. He said that there is a vast difference between this season and the previous one. “I am more aware of how to handle situations better this year. Last year, I wasn’t quite there with the mental scheme of things. I am now good at pre-empting things. I am now well prepared to make the cut,” Kishore added

Charting out the difference he has seen between the T20 and the longer format of the game, Kishore confessed that the shortest format was the easier pick. “I am always the one to go for wickets. In a T20 game, the batsman is already out of his shell. So the job (to get wickets) is a little easy. In this format, you need to bring the batsman out of his shell and then go for wickets. That is a major difference.” he said.

Tamil Nadu squad:

Abhinav Mukund (C), Baba Indrajith (VC), M Vijay, M Kaushik Gandhi, N Jagadeesan (WK), Baba Aparajith, MS Washington Sundar, Rahil S Shah, K Vignesh, R Ashwin, L Vignesh, R Sai Kishore, V Lakshman, R Rohith (WK) and Malolan Rangarajan.