R Sai Kishore has announced his arrival in English county cricket for Gloucestershire in style. On Cheltenham College ground, the tall left-arm spinner from Tamil Nadu produced a delivery that had social
media buzzing and cricket fans calling it a ripper. In the County Championship Division Two match against Worcestershire, Sai Kishore finished with figures of 4 for 76 as the visitors were bowled out for 267. Gloucestershire, who had been dismissed for just 150 in their first innings, found themselves trailing by 117 runs. Kishore’s spell, including a memorable final wicket that cleaned up Worcestershire captain Brett D’Oliveira with a ball pitching on leg and hitting the top of off, helped keep the home side in the contest.
The Gloucestershire official account posted the video with a caption “Ball of the year contender ? Sai Kishore finishes with four wickets on his Gloucestershire debut! What a start to his Shire career!” The video has gone viral on social media getting plenty of views within hours.
Ball of the year contender @CountyChamp ? 🤯 Sai Kishore finishes with four wickets on his Gloucestershire debut! What a start to his Shire career! 🔥#BecomeGlorious pic.twitter.com/zyi8Z5lvap
— Gloucestershire Cricket (@Gloscricket) August 22, 2026
By the end of day three, Gloucestershire had fought back strongly to 248 for 3, leading by 131 with seven wickets still in hand. This was Sai Kishore’s first appearance of a six-match stint with Gloucestershire that runs through the rest of the Championship season. He had previously enjoyed a successful short stint with Surrey in 2025 where he picked up 11 wickets in two matches.
Sai Kishore’s Impressive First-Class Record
Ravisrinivasan Sai Kishore has one of the stronger first-class records among current Indian domestic spinners. The left-arm orthodox bowler made his first-class debut for Tamil Nadu in the 2017 Ranji Trophy. Across 54 first-class matches he has picked up 223 wickets at an average of 24.21, with a best of 7/70 and one ten-wicket match haul (10/98). He has taken 14 five-wicket hauls and 11 four-wicket hauls. He has been a mainstay for Tamil Nadu in the Ranji Trophy for nearly a decade. He was the leading wicket-taker for the side in the 2018–19 season (22 wickets in six matches) and has produced several big seasons since, including a standout 2023–24 campaign in which he topped the national charts with 53 wickets.
Sai Kishore has also captained the Tamil Nadu side and contributed useful lower-order runs with the bat scoring 929 career first-class runs at 14.51, with three fifties and a highest score of 81. His List A record is equally good with 105 wickets in 67 matches at 23.42, including two five-fors. In T20 cricket he has more than 100 wickets across domestic and franchise competitions. He was part of the Gujarat Titans side that won the IPL in 2022 and has taken 33 wickets in 28 IPL appearances at an average of 21.12, with a best of 4/33. However, opportunities were limited in IPL 2026 where he played only three games. After a productive two-game spell with Surrey last summer he returned to England this August with Gloucestershire. The club, sitting near the bottom of Division Two, signed him specifically for the late-season conditions that often favour spin.
