Sai Kishore was on top of the world in the middle of 2025. His Tamil Nadu and Gujarat Titans teammate Shahrukh Khan noted that he had never seen Sai Kishore bowl better, citing the spring in his step and the spice in his wicket celebrations. The ball and his various deliveries came out beautifully all season, leading him to finish IPL 2025 with 19 wickets. However, the 2026 season proved difficult, as he played just three matches, bowled in only two, and picked up a solitary wicket.
Reflecting on that period, Sai Kishore admits he should have given himself more time to recover from his surgery. He explains that during the domestic season, particularly until the end of the Vijay Hazare Trophy, he was still working toward full fitness. "I should've waited some more time. Maybe 3-4 weeks more to push myself back into cricket. Because I got tempted by a lot of selections going around. I got tempted to play a little quickly. I think on hindsight, I shouldn't have done that," he says. This lack of full rhythm was evident throughout the Vijay Hazare and Syed Mushtaq Ali trophies, where he managed only one wicket all season.
Despite having experienced the Indian team jersey during the 2023 Asian Games, Kishore refuses to rue his luck. He views his stellar 2025 season as a result of favorable circumstances. "To be fair, any good performance is a lot of things going your way. A little bit here and there, and it will be a six. Last year, I think that happened beautifully for me. So without taking any credit, I think my time was good. The situations were good," he says, almost trivializing his success. He is currently in a phase where he arrives at the ground at 4 AM to train in the dark, often having to wake the curator. "I am in that phase. It's okay. Eventually, sun has to come out," he adds matter-of-factly.
At 29, Kishore understands the impact of a hiatus on his career. He aims to retain the innocence he felt as a child, focusing on the joy of the ball leaving his hand rather than just the pressure of selection. "I want to retain that innocence in my career. Even if I have a larger perspective of playing for the country, the feeling of the ball coming off your hand is the most amazing. We are playing for the joys that we got out of playing the sport from childhood."
There is a mismatch between his recent struggles and his outlook. Coming from a non-cricket background—where his father has only watched one of his games, the 2022 IPL final—he maintains a blind belief in his ability. "There's improbable things like picking 10 wickets in a match. I want to do that. It's that belief which made me a cricketer." During the 2026 season, he worked with the Gujarat Titans management to accept a reduced role, while spending time with Rashid Khan to refine his carom ball. He emphasizes that success for him is now internal: "How happy we are, how peaceful we are, how satisfied we are, that for me is success at this point in time."
Kishore notes that his perspective on peace of mind was forged through struggle. He questions whether his happiness is tied solely to cricket results, a line of inquiry he has pursued for 3-4 years. As he returns to competitive cricket on August 4 in the Tamil Nadu Premier League, he remains focused on his goal for the next 12 months: to be "skillfully more developed, mentally more matured, spiritually more evolved."
