Gujarat Titans’ left-arm spinner Sai Kishore, who made his IPL debut for the side in the last edition, has said that the “champions” tag doesn’t really matter and the side would look to play good cricket in this season of the cash-rich league. The spinner also talked about the newly-introduced Impact Player Rule in IPL 2023 during the media interaction.
“It’s more like the super sub rule. It’s basically like playing with 12 players. The only change is that in domestic cricket, it was restricted to the 14th over. So, in 20 overs, it should be easier to handle,” Kishore replied to a News18 Cricketnext query.
Quizzed about GT’s preparations for the upcoming IPL season, the left-arm spinner said, “The preparations have started and they are going in full swing and we have some fantastic facilities here in Ahmedabad. We played well and that’s why we won the title last year. The tag “Champions” doesn’t really matter.”
“Gujarat Titans environment is really good. Ashish Nehra has kept the team going really well,” he added.
Kishore has shared the dugout with Rashid Khan while playing for the Gujarat franchise. The Tamil Nadu player lavished praise on Rashid and added that having two different kinds of spinners on the side is a luxury.
“Rashid (Khan) is a fantastic player and he has shown that over the years in all the leagues that he has played in. Bowling with him has been a blessing. Rashid doesn’t really give away runs, so the opposition will try to come after me and if I play smart then I can really impact the game there,” he said.
“Though, we haven’t really spoken much about bowling because we are pretty different in our bowling styles. But together, it’s a very good combination to have,” Sai added.
The 26-year-old also lauded Hardik Pandya for maintaining a balance between success and failure and also added that Pandya’s captaincy is quite similar to that of MS Dhoni.
“In the first two years, I was with CSK and then joined GT. Hardik (Pandya) and Mahi bhai (MS Dhoni) are pretty similar in the way they handle things. Both are pretty calm. One thing I really admire about Hardik is his ability to handle his success and failures equally. That’s something very unique about him,” he said.
Talking about his focus, Sai insisted that he wants to concentrate on the coming IPL season and perform well for GT.
“There are a lot of left-arm spinners and it’s a great opportunity but I would like to stay in the present, play well for GT and constantly improve my skills. I really want to work hard, keep every game to the fullest and hopefully someday, I will play for India (Smiles).”
The defending champions Gujarat Titans will begin the campaign against Chennai Super Kings in Ahmedabad on 31st March.
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