Sai Kishore - from a raging TNPL youngster to a Chennai Super ‘King’

On September 8, 2016, in Tamil Nadu Premier League, a youngster Ravisrinivasan Sai Kishore lost his cool against his now-CSK teammate N Jagadeesan to get himself a ‘hot-headed’ tag. However, the tag, the temper and that Sai Kishore that we saw on that day was all short-lived. 

“No, not really. If I bothered too much about the scouts in the stand, my game would have been affected and I could not have shown my capability that they would be looking,” added Sai Kishore. 

“Playing under not only Dinesh Karthik, the influence of Vijay Shankar, Murali Vijay and Abhinav Mukund in the dressing room has been immense. From growing up watching them on the TV to being part of the same team with them is a lifetime experience in itself. More than half of my success I would dedicate to Karthik, he trusted me more than any skipper by giving me the opportunity to showcase my skills with the new ball.”

This is the Sai Kishore that we know, thanks to all the decisions that he had taken on his way to becoming a professional cricketer. He loves cricket, loves to study and more importantly believes in working hard in whatever he does as he recalled his school days. 

A student of education then, a student of cricket now, Kishore has had a massive transformation in his career since his time at the coaching sessions in Adambakam. Under Janaki Raman, not only did he improve his own game but also developed a sense of belongingness and love for the sport. From a nerd who kept track of all his record to creating a statement for him to need no introduction on the domestic circuit, his career has come a long way. However, despite all of the success hitting him suddenly, he believes in resetting himself for the next game. 

“Forget, reset and grind. It’s all a fragment of your own imagination, there is nothing called as ‘success’ and ‘failure.’ You might think that you are having a good day, however, for the others, it might look like you have played a bad game. In modern cricket, you don’t have the luxury to take it casually and not work harder following a good game. Show up and keep working hard,” he said philosophically.  

“Actually, this ‘Madipakkam’ tag was just created as a fun thing in the dressing room between Vijay and myself. Both of us are so fond of the place, the calmness and the serenity it has compared to the other places. Also, it is exciting to see that our ‘vera level’ area has now got publicity on its own. It was first started as a result of the constant teasing in the dressing room, now it has grown to this level.” 

While the dressing room did a pull a leg or two, the spinners more or less worked closely together like knitted wool. A failure for any of the spinners would immediately lead to them helping out each other. As he said there is no place for ‘ego’ in any dressing room.

For him, the experience of being a ‘net-bowler’ more or less like an internship where put in the hard strides to get close to any result. However, since then he has bounced and bounced so hard that the franchises could not ignore him anymore. 

“I just want to go to the Chennai Super Kings dressing room, bowl against the likes of experienced professionals such as Watson, Dhoni and improve my own game. Also, I want to learn how the pros handle their success and never let to get it to their brain.”

“I love playing street cricket, whenever I get the time you would find me to be the first person playing on the streets. ‘Play to Win’ is something I learnt and loved from playing with the Tennis-ball cricket.” 

Just like many of us, Sai Kishore too had to sadly wait till everything got over to get his ball back home and that too on a ‘lucky day.’ “Sadly, I was the ball owner so I did not get many opportunities like the bat owner to go home early.”