Surrey have dipped into the overseas market again, this time handing a short, two-match County Championship deal to left-arm finger-spinner R Sai Kishore. The 28-year-old from Tamil Nadu is due to turn out against Yorkshire at Scarborough later this month, before finishing the stint at Durham from 29 July to 1 August. After that, he flies home to get ready for India’s domestic season.
For Sai Kishore it is a first taste of county cricket. “I’m really excited to be joining Surrey for the next two County Championship matches,” he said in a note released by the club. “Surrey are one of the most prestigious clubs in the world and I have heard great things about the set-up from lots of different people in the game.” All being well, his debut could pit him against a familiar face: Ruturaj Gaikwad, an old Chennai Super Kings team-mate, recently signed as Yorkshire’s overseas batter.
Alec Stewart, now acting as Surrey’s high-performance adviser, explained the move. “I’m delighted to bring the highly rated Sai Kishore into our squad for the next two Kookaburra games,” Stewart said. “All the reports I have received from people I respect in the Indian game have spoken highly of him. His four-day record for Tamil Nadu is very good and he brings leadership experience to the group.”
Those red-ball numbers are hard to ignore. Forty-six first-class matches, 192 wickets, average just 23.51 and an economy of 2.76. In the most recent Ranji Trophy he topped the bowling charts, 53 wickets in nine outings as Tamil Nadu reached the semi-finals. Yet a full India call remains elusive: younger spinners Manav Suthar and Harsh Dubey jumped ahead for the recent India A visit to England. A couple of solid games on greenish English pitches might well nudge selectors again.
White-ball form is already established. Sai Kishore finished IPL 2025 as the second-highest spinner on the wicket tallies, 19 strikes in 15 matches for Gujarat Titans while conceding 9.24 an over – not spectacular, but steady given the scores this season. He then captained Chepauk Super Gillies to a maiden Tamil Nadu Premier League crown last Sunday, so arrives in England with overs in the legs and confidence topped up.
During the IPL, Daniel Vettori – now coaching Sunrisers Hyderabad – was impressed. “Sai Kishore has been the pick [of the spinners],” Vettori noted. “He’s been fantastic, and I think he was a guy we looked very closely at in the auction and wanted him in the team. He’s very brave, his ability to turn the ball and change his pace and angle from over and around the wicket. I think it sort of sets up a template for other spinners to see how you can actually compete and succeed, and he’s done it on good batting wickets as well. I know he came to Hyderabad and bowled exceptionally well. I think he’s been incredibly impressive.”
Conditions in Yorkshire and Durham will be a little different from Chennai or Ahmedabad. Early-season surfaces have flattened out, but the Dukes ball is still nipping, and July in the north can be fickle. Sai Kishore has at least bowled a few spells here before: he was a reserve on India’s 2022 Test tour, sending down 14 tidy overs in a warm-up match and even removing Cheteshwar Pujara.
Surrey currently sit nicely perched in Division One, juggling injuries and internationals. The club have leaned on spin more than usual, partly because of the Kookaburra experiment in two rounds that offered less seam movement. Bringing in a specialist gives them variety if the pitch turns late, and a safety net if the treaded surfaces tire their quicks.
Will two games be enough to make a statement? Hard to say. Yet the opportunity is obvious – for player and club alike – and, if nothing else, Sai Kishore’s arrival adds a touch more intrigue to an already tight Championship race.
