Former India batter Ambati Rayudu batted for spinner Sai Kishore’s inclusion in the national side following his consistent run in the ongoing IPL 2025 season. The 28-year-old is currently the second-highest wicket-taker for GT and the second-highest among all spinners in IPL 2025, having taken eight wickets in four matches at an economy rate of 7.06. With a career T20 economy rate of 5.98 from 74 matches, his overall performance is even more remarkable. The spinner has played three T20Is for India, as part of a second-string side, at the Asian Games in October 2023. Since then, he hasn’t represented India in any format.
“He is quite the guy not to get into the Indian side. I think, going forward, it will be great if he gets into the Indian side because he is as good as anybody who is playing in the Indian team now,” Rayudu said on ESPNcricinfo’s TimeOut show.
In Gujarat Titans’ seven-wicket win over Sunrisers Hyderabad, Sai Kishore returned with the figures of 2-24 with wickets of Heinrich Klaasen and Nitish Kumar Reddy.
“The way he celebrated Klaasen’s wicket today; he rarely celebrates. I know why he celebrated – because he planned for that. He bowled over the stumps to Klaasen so that he could take the ball away from his arc. And then he came around, and he knew Klaasen would go for his pick-up shot. So he bowled that quicker one. So I think he planned for it; he plans a lot,” Rayudu said.
The veteran batter, who has played with Sai Kishore during his time with Chennai Super Kings, lauded the work ethic of the spinner.
“This guy has always improved day in and day out. He used to work much harder than many people in the nets. He used to be the first to start, and the last to go out. And he used to bowl to every batsman, (and) ask them for feedback (regarding) what his lengths were. He was constantly learning,” Rayudu said.
“That’s the greatest aspect, and now you see his control in terms of length. And he also bowls differently to each batsman. He doesn’t bowl the same ball. A lot of bowlers that we see are so comfortable bowling one length or one line. He is not that kind of bowler; he can adjust accordingly,” he added.
Sai Kishore started the IPL 2025 season with a three-wicket haul against Punjab Kings, followed by 1-37 against Mumbai Indians and two wickets each against Royal Challengers Bengaluru and Sunrisers Hyderabad respectively.
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