Gujarat Titans (GT) spinner R Sai Kishore knows a lot about Hardik Pandya and MS Dhoni, having been part of the GT and Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in the Indian Premier League (IPL).
The 25-year-old was part of the CSK for the past two seasons, but he didn’t get a single game with Chennai in the IPL. However, Gujarat franchise showed faith in the spinner and he snared 6 wickets from 5 matches at an economy rate of 7.56 in the recently concluded IPL 2022.
Comparing Dhoni and Pandya’s captaincy, Kishore said that the GT captain is like a junior version of MSD, as there are a lot of similarities between the two. He also felt his stint with CSK only helped him to read the game better, as he got to face Dhoni at the nets.
Sai Kishore told Times of India: “Bowling to MS Dhoni at the nets and speaking to him about the game did a world of good for me. My game-reading skills have improved. There are a lot of similarities between the two. Much like Dhoni, Hardik has the knack of getting the best out of his players. Both put the team before themselves and that's what you expect from your leader. I would call Hardik the junior version of Dhoni.”
The spinner said that he got confidence after he caught Quinton de Kock at the cover-point region in an IPL game.
He said, “I was bought for good money (Rs 3 crore) from the auctions by the Titans. The catch of Quinton eased my nerves a little bit. It was important for me to repay the faith Gujarat Titans showed in me and I am happy to have done well in the opportunities I got.”
Sai Kishore added, “They (his coaches R Prasanna and R Ramkumar) have played a key part in my growth as a cricketer. Not only on my fitness and skills, I have also worked hard on my game awareness. I want to make each of my 24 deliveries count in a T20 game.”
Speaking on his GT teammate Rashid Khan, the spinner said: “He is just brilliant in what he does. He is constantly looking to contribute -- be it with the bat or ball or on the field and that's a skill to have.”
He signed off by saying, “It was a great season but I feel I can do better. I will want to continue improving my game in the coming months.”
(With TOI Inputs)
