Sai Kishore enjoys dream English County debut with Surrey

CHENNAI: R Sai Kishore had a short and sweet stint representing Surrey in English County Championship Division I. Despite having little time to bed in, the Tamil Nadu left-arm spinner gave a good account of himself in the two matches that he featured in.

The 28-year-old Sai Kishore began his debut County campaign with a four-wicket match haul in the draw against Yorkshire in Scarborough. The slow bowler then produced a match-influencing show of seven scalps, including a five-wicket burst in the second innings, to propel Surrey to a five-wicket victory over Durham in Chester-le-Street.

Brimming with optimism after a productive spell away from home, Sai Kishore believes that he has it in him to deliver on all kinds of surfaces. “I have a lot of belief in my red-ball game. Winning a match in foreign conditions and doing it with a team which I was not familiar with, gives me a lot of confidence,” Sai Kishore, who has represented India only in T20Is (three matches), told TOI from England on Friday.

“The belief that I can take wickets in all conditions is only growing. I had the belief that I could do it; the performances in England have given me the assurance that I can. Only when you tour do you get to know how good you are in foreign conditions. I now feel that I had not deceived myself,” added Sai Kishore, the Tamil Nadu red-ball captain.

His leadership quality and extensive preparation with coach R Ramkumar in Chennai allowed Sai Kishore to swiftly adapt to English County. “I see myself as a leader wherever I go. Whenever I had interactions with the coach (Gareth Batty) and captain (Rory Burns), I discussed how we could take the game forward. It was not just about me picking wickets. The captain and coach handled me well; they used me well, that is why I was able to deliver my best. Overall, I am very happy,” said Sai Kishore.

“Before going to England, I worked with Ramkumar anna and refined my action. After playing a lot of T20 cricket in the last few months, my action was spoilt a bit, so I had to tweak it. Besides that, Batty’s (a former spinner) inputs came in handy.”

Captain all praise for spinner

Surrey skipper Burns was effusive in his praise of Sai Kishore, saying that the left-arm spinner was an invaluable addition to the squad. “When you have someone with that quality who can do what he is asked to any time, it is pretty impressive. The ability Sai has, to control one end on a surface like that, is outstanding. He is a fantastic bloke around the group; he has great energy,” Burns said after Surrey comprehensively defeated Durham.