Sai Kishore revealed that a tip from M.S. Dhoni over five years ago helped him become a better bowler, even though he didn’t understand it then.

The 29-year-old scalped six for 34, including a hat-trick against Uttarakhand in the second innings, to bowl Tamil Nadu to an innings victory over Uttarakhand in their Ranji Trophy fixture here on Tuesday.

One impressive aspect was how he used the crease and varied his angles, including going wider.

“That was something I picked up during my stint with CSK. Dhoni emphasised it heavily, but back then, I didn’t quite grasp how much he meant. Over the last two years — starting from IPL 2025 — I’ve really begun embracing it. When you bowl from varied crease angles, the ball behaves differently off the deck. I leaned into that, and it’s paying rich dividends,” said Sai Kishore.

From being at the cusp of breaking into the national team, Sai Kishore has fallen off the radar after being ignored for both the Duleep Trophy and the Irani Cup.

When asked whether this performance would help him get back into the limelight, he replied: “Maybe (it might). I didn’t bowl to take a hat-trick. I was just doing my job. When I am very honest to myself and when I am working hard, I think God is giving me all these things.”

“Indian cricket is packed with talent, and to be fair, by my own benchmark, last year wasn’t my best season — even though I still averaged around three to three-and-a-half wickets a game. I take it in my stride, keep my head down, and focus entirely on performing consistently,” said Sai Kishore.

Tamil Nadu skipper Sai Kishore attributed his team’s failure to take a first-innings lead against Rajasthan to the lower order’s lack of application.

He also felt the pitch became increasingly spin-friendly as the match progressed, giving the toss (won by Rajasthan), a significant bearing on the contest.

“I think it was a lack of application. We lost our last four wickets for very few runs (10) and the lower order has to contribute in First Class cricket. When we bowled, there was hardly any assistance from the pitch and it played more like a seaming wicket. But as the game progressed, it started offering more to the spinners, making it a toss-oriented wicket. Still, we should have contributed more with the bat,” he said.

Sai Kishore credited Mahipal Lomror (84) and Kartik Sharma (42) with steering Rajasthan to safety in the second innings.

“To be fair, Mahipal played really well. He counter-attacked us really well from a very difficult situation (25 for three). Even Kartik, for that matter (came in at 31 for four). He might not have scored a lot of runs, but made enough impact for them to secure those three points,” he said.

Coach Yo Mahesh highlighted the positives. “We would have loved to take the first-innings lead, but there are a lot of positives. Playing away from home, the toss is critical. Deepesh (three for 89) and Saravana Kumar (three for 68) took three wickets each, Sai Kishore did well with the ball in the second innings (three for 50), and three of our batters did well (Andre Siddarth, Jagadeesan, and Pradosh Ranjan Paul),” he said.

There was a long-running joke until Tamil Nadu ended its 33-year wait for a second Ranji Trophy title in 1988 — the only way the team could have the trophy was by stealing it!

Nearly four decades on, it still retains an uncomfortable currency. At the 2023 TNCA annual day function, former president N. Srinivasan posed a question that was as simple as it was pointed: if Vidarbha could win the trophy, why not Tamil Nadu, with one of the country’s best cricket ecosystems? Jammu & Kashmir’s rise to the summit has since made that question harder to avoid.

On Sunday, Tamil Nadu returns to the business of answering that question when it opens its latest campaign against Rajasthan at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium here. The fixture carries its history: Rajasthan was Tamil Nadu’s opponent in the 2011-12 Ranji final. Both teams would hope this season carries them that far again — and beyond.

Tamil Nadu’s new coach Yo Mahesh at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur on Saturday ahead of the team’s Ranji Trophy opener against Rajasthan from Sunday.
| Photo Credit:
S. Prasanna Venkatesan

Tamil Nadu’s new coach Yo Mahesh said on Saturday that frequent changes had denied the team stability in recent seasons. “There were a lot of changes happening consistently, which didn’t really help the team. When we have so much talent in the room, we need to trust them,” he said.

“We need to give them that security and a stable environment. That’s when their best is going to come. We need to crack the combination. Definitely, chopping and changing won’t happen that much (this season).”

The pace attack lacks experience. All-rounder Sonu Yadav is its most experienced member, with just 10 First-Class matches. “Some really good fast bowlers have been coming through the junior ranks. This is an attempt to give them a starting point. They have a lot of promise, but it will take some time. When it falls into place, it’s going to be something we can bank on for the next five years,” the coach said.

Tamil Nadu received a boost with India all-rounder Washington Sundar joining the squad on Friday. Pacer Esakkimuthu has replaced the injured Pranav Ragavendra.s

R. Sai Kishore will lead Tamil Nadu in the Ranji Trophy 2026-27 season that begins next month. The TNCA senior selection committee has picked a 16-member squad for the opening fixture against Rajasthan, to be played in Jaipur from October 11 to 14.

Alongside the regulars, left-arm spinner S. Ajith Ram returns after missing out last year due to injury. The squad features promising pacers R.D. Pranav Ragavendra and D. Deepesh. The youngsters are known for their ability to bowl at a brisk pace, something TN has not had in a while. While Pranav made his debut in the 2024-25 season, Deepesh has received his maiden call-up.

“We got good feedback about Pranav during the recent India under-19 tour to Sri Lanka. These two are the future, and we want to allow them to mature. In three years, they will be the backbone of our attack,” said Sunil Subramanian, chairman of the selection committee.

Meanwhile, C. Andre Siddarth, who will play in his third season, has been named vice-captain. The 20-year-old was TN’s third-highest run-scorer (409 runs) last term. “He led the side well in the intra-squad game, and we are looking at grooming him for the future,” Sunil added.

On promising opener B. Sachin not making the cut, Sunil said that with S.R. Athish being the back-up wicketkeeper and G. Ajitesh doing well in the practice match, he had to miss out.

The squad: R. Sai Kishore (Capt.), C. Andre Siddarth (Vice-capt.), G. Ajitesh (wk), S. Ajith Ram, S.R. Athish, D. Deepesh, G. Govinth, J. Hemchudeshan, B. Indrajith, N. Jagadeesan, Nidhish S. Rajagopal, Pradosh Ranjan Paul, R.D. Pranav Ragavendra, P. Saravana Kumar, R. Sonu Yadav, R. Vimal Khumar.

Standby/development squad: B. Aaditya, A. Esakkimuthu, Manav Parakh, S. Radhakrishnan, B. Sachin.

Even as the Tamil Nadu cricketing community gathered to celebrate the start of the 10th edition of the Tamil Nadu Premier League T20 competition on Tuesday, a development from a few days ago should prompt some serious introspection by the powers that be.

On Sunday, the South Zone Duleep Trophy squad was announced, with only Tamil Nadu player – wicketkeeper-batter N. Jagadeesan – finding a place in the 15-member squad. And TN had no reason to complain as it was a reflection of the side’s dismal performances in domestic cricket for a while now, especially in the Ranji Trophy.

Consistent underperformance in the country’s premier domestic tournament would eventually dry up opportunities for its players to be picked for higher levels and catch the attention of selectors.

Since the 2016-17 campaign, TN has made the knockouts only three times (2016-17 semifinals; 2023-24 semifinals; 2024-25 quarterfinals).

Last season, TN finished sixth out of eight teams in its group and was ranked 21st overall among 32 teams in the Elite division. In seven matches, the team managed just one outright win and managed to take first-innings lead in two other games.

Even on an individual level, none of the batters or bowlers stood out. While Pradosh Ranjan Paul was the top-scorer with 564 runs, Sai Kishore topped the wickets charts with 20 scalps. For context, Goa’s Abhinav Tejrana, a member of the South Zone squad, managed 788 runs and was the fifth-highest run-getter in the season.

While there have been criticisms surrounding some of the selections in the past and the constant changing of coaches every year, it is also time for the players – especially the senior pros – to take the onus and deliver for being backed for so long.

As the two-time champion prepares for the upcoming season under a new coach – V. Yo Mahesh – and a new selection committee, there is a gargantuan task ahead to take corrective measures and use this as a wake-up call.