For a while now, the words have been out: Sai Kishore is one of the shrewdest spinners in the country, though it would be whispered in a hushed tone, and mostly among the devoted followers of domestic cricket. For this verdict to be more popular knowledge, Kishore needed to exhibit his mastery on the biggest stage, and he has been doing exactly that in this season of the Indian Premier League, each performance converting sceptics into believers. He has been the most impressive spinner in a team that also boasts of T20 royalty Rashid Khan. His 14 wickets in the first 11 matches for Gujarat Titans have come at a strike rate of 12.64. He's now delivering the kind of impact he has long dreamed of, after scarce opportunities and a neck injury that sidelined him during last year's IPL had left him waiting in the wings. "I have been in the IPL for almost six years now. To finally have a breakthrough season, it's very satisfying. To dominate in such a stage gives me a lot of confidence going forward. It gives me a lot of self-belief that I belong to international cricket," says Kishore, in an exclusive interaction with Man's World. 

There's a sense of mysticism around Kishore, and the more you watch him in action or hear his words, the harder it gets to confine him within neat, absolute categories. He is a hard-working professional, perpetually engaged in the relentless pursuit of perfection, yet he is content with where he stands in the present. His gentle voice and calm demeanour hide the aggression he carries. He believes he is among the world's finest spinners, yet he does not lose sleep over the lack of opportunities.  

He is a slow left-arm orthodox spinner, and he can also turn the ball away from the left-handed batter, and that's the most important part. Fingerspinners can end up becoming too predictable, thus more prone to the onslaught in the shortest format. Kishore countered this problem by mastering the carrom ball, which he deftly used to dismiss Krunal Pandya in a match against Royal Challengers Bengaluru. He stands alone among India's left-arm spinners to execute this delivery, with Mitchell Santner being the only other active left-armer globally who can bowl it. To think of mastering a skill that has not many precedents speaks volumes about the ingenuity of Kishore, justifying his moniker of 'The Scientist', given by his former captain Hardik Pandya at Gujarat Titans. "It took me intense practice for almost three years to perfect that delivery. I am using it in a very sparse manner, so that I just use it when it's absolutely required. Because I have full confidence in my stock bowling. But the carrom ball is essential. I think it can revolutionise the way finger spinners operate in T20 cricket, especially left-arm spinners. Right-arm spinners have actually tried to bowl the carrom ball or the backspin, or the googly. But in left-arm, I think after Michie [Mitchell Santner], I would be the only spinner to do it till now," he says. 

Standing at 6'4'', Kishore's release point is relatively high for a spinner, which makes even his stock delivery quite threatening. With his ability to spin the ball both ways, he now gives his captain greater flexibility and confidence to deploy him in situations where they might have previously hesitated. But the experimentation has not stopped here. "There are two more balls which I want to execute better, two more variations. I don't know if it will be ready next game, next season, or the next tournament, but I keep working on them. Whenever it comes, it's going to be a game-changer," says the spinner who is likely going to become a mainstay of the Indian spin attack very soon. 

Kishore approaches his craft with a showman's dazzle and a scholar's precision. The flair flows naturally; the rigour, he owes to a strong academic background. He did not inherit any sporting lineage. He started playing cricket because it was fun, not because he wanted to carve his legacy. It was only after he joined an engineering college that he decided to make a career out of the game. His father was not pleased with this idea, but allowed him to pursue his dream, with a stern warning: if he failed, he'd be on his own, without his father's support. "To hear this statement from my father was very liberating for me. I dropped out of college and started giving all my time to cricket. Soon, things started falling in place, and I got into the Ranji Trophy side within a couple of years," he quips. 

Still, to trade off the certainty of a conventional career for a career in sports, where the way to success is rife with uncertainty, and to do this with the knowledge that he has no pillars to fall back upon, must have been pretty intimidating for a young guy. But he felt no such fears. It was an easy decision for him. "I had the confidence that I was going to make it," says Kishore. 

Such unwavering confidence in his ability has not dimmed even a bit. He does not shy away from claiming that he is one of the best spinners in the country. "Look forward to seeing you soon in the Indian cricket team," is enthusiastically met with "Very soon, yeah". Yet, amid this never-ending toil of chasing sporting excellence, the relentless grind of elite sports, Kishore always finds time for quiet reflection—pursuing activities that steady him. "In the highly competitive environment of sports, people often lose their human side. I want to be grounded and in touch with other aspects of my life that define me just as much as my job. To keep the human side intact makes me a little bit of a mystic. The mystery is just me being more human," reflects Kishore. 

When he is not busy with the game, you would find him reading poems of Kannadasan, or listening to songs of AR Rahman, Yuvan Shankar Raja. He is blessed with impressive musical talent too, and he does not shy away from broadcasting it to his fans. You can find a video on his Instagram profile, where he sits with his colleague Sai Sudharsan, singing the early 2000s Tamil hit "Iru Vizhi Unnadhu". These moments of respite, away from the grind of the pitch, are just as crucial for his well-being. "To work hard is a given. Everyone does that, but to have contentment while doing it is a challenge. I strive to be the best in the world and then be content with where I am," concludes Kishore.