He was the second leading wicket-taker among spinners in IPL 2025.
Uncapped Indian left-arm spinner R Sai Kishore has been roped in by Surrey in Division One of the County Championship. Sai Kishore will join the squad in a few days and will be available for two first-class games later this month. He will make his debut against the Indian opener Ruturaj Gaikwad’s side, Yorkshire, in Scarborough. His short stint will come to an end with a game against Durham in Chester-le-Street, slated from July 29 to August 1. Surrey have won three county championship titles in a row, and are eyeing a four-peat this season.
“I’m really excited to be joining Surrey for the next two County Championship matches,” Sai Kishore said in a statement. “Surrey are one of the most prestigious clubs in the world and I have heard great things about the set-up from lots of different people in the game.”
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Sai has now joined the elite of Indian spinners, including Harbhajan Singh and Anil Kumble, who have also represented Surrey in the past. Alec Stewart, Surrey’s high-performance advisor and former wicketkeeper-batter, welcomed Sai Kishore into the team.
“I’m delighted to bring the highly rated Sai Kishore into our squad for the next two Kookaburra games,” Stewart said. “All the reports I have received from people I respect in the Indian game have spoken highly of him. His four-day record for Tamil Nadu is very good and he brings leadership experience to the group.”
The Tamil Nadu all-rounder has also been exceptional in red-ball cricket, having picked up 192 wickets in 46 first-class games at an average of 23.51 and an economy rate of 2.76. The left-arm spinner emerged as the highest wicket-taker in the 2023-24 Ranji Trophy season with 53 scalps in just nine games at an average of 18.52. His performance helped Tamil Nadu reach the semi-finals. The southpaw has played three T20Is for India during the Hangzhou Asian Games 2023, where India won the gold medal under Ruturaj Gaikwad.
However, he has since slipped down the pecking order in red-ball cricket for the national side, with Manav Suthar and Harsh Dubey getting India A call-ups tour of England, which played two unofficial Tests. However, he has already visited and trained in English conditions, having travelled with the Indian team as a reserve player for the fifth Test of the 2021 tour in 2022. In the intra-squad game, Sai Kishor dismissed Cheteshwar Pujara for 22 in his 14 overs at Grace Road in Leicester.
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