27-year-old spinner Sai Kishore has set his sights on securing a place in India’s Test squad and has declared himself fully prepared to compete at the highest level, having put in strong performances in the domestic circuit as well as the Indian Premier League (IPL).

Sai Kishore is undoubtedly one of the best bowlers in the Indian cricket scene but unfortunately, he is yet to secure a permanent place in the Indian team. The 1.90m tall Tamil Nadu star has taken 166 wickets in first-class cricket and 92 wickets in List A cricket.

He made his T20I debut for India during the 2023 Asian Games and has so far played 3 games while picking up 4 wickets with best bowling figures of 3/12.

Sai Kishore suffered a freak injury while playing golf during the 2024 Indian Premier League, forcing him to miss cricket for months. His neck injury turned out to be worse and he recently returned after two months of rehabilitation. He returned to action in TNPL, starting as a batsman predominantly before assuming his role with the ball.

Sai Kishore will next be seen in action in the Duleep Trophy, which will begin on September 5 in Anantapur, Andhra Pradesh, and at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru. He will play for Team B, the team that features bowlers like Ravindra Jadeja, Washington Sundar and Rahul Chahar.

The Ajit Agarkar-led selection committee will be keeping a close eye on the Duleep Trophy performances as it is expected to reward players with possible selection for the Bangladesh Tests if they put in good performances.

“I feel I am one of the best bowlers in the country. Put me in a Test match and I am ready” – Sai Kishore

Sai Kishore is one of the players who is hoping to do well and in an interview with The New Indian Express ahead of the competition, he said that he is feeling very confident at this stage of his career. He said:

“I feel very confident because I have never trained in the block I am doing now. Maybe before I went into the IPL, I would have trained like this. Getting up at 4 am, training and then bowling. I have not put in as many hours as I have in this pre-season in the last four-five years. During the IPL, you don’t get time, you focus on recovery. After the TNPL, I had a break of 15-20 days and I made the most of it.”

Sai Kishore added that he is one of the best bowlers in the country and told the selectors to include him in the Test team.

“I feel I am one of the best bowlers in the country. If they put me in a Test match, I am ready. So I am not too worried. Jadeja is there, I have never played alongside him. I have been with him at CSK, but we have never played together in the red-ball format. So it will be a good learning experience in terms of what he does. Having said that, I am feeling confident. So I am as ready as ever,” he said.

It is worth noting that India already have the likes of Ravichandran Ashwin, Axar Patel, Ravindra Jadeja and Kuldeep Yadav as spin-bowling options in the Test squad and unless a player gets injured, the inclusion of another spinner seems unlikely.