At around 1pm on the third afternoon under overcast skies at Chepauk, R Sai Kishore drew an outside edge from Aditya Rawat and bagged a hat-trick, rushing Tamil Nadu to an innings victory against Uttarakhand. Sai Kishore barely celebrated and soon found himself mobbed by his team-mates.
"I think when I'm honest to myself and working hard, God is giving me all of these things," Sai Kishore said after TN crushed Uttarakhand by an innings and 66 runs inside three days. "I already have a T20 hat-trick and now I have one here [in the Ranji Trophy] as well. My [personal] coach Ramkumar had a hat-trick for Tamil Nadu and always tells me I don't have one. I think we're even now (laughs)."
After knocking over India Under-19s' star Lakshya Raichandani in the 43rd over, Sai Kishore proceeded to have Saurabh Rawat caught by B Indrajith in the slips and then Aditya caught behind by wicketkeeper N Jagadeesan. Generating sharp turn and bounce from both over the wicket and around the wicket, Sai Kishore was in excellent rhythm after a finger injury had hampered him in the previous domestic season.
"I've been able to play for Tamil Nadu for so long and this is my tenth season," Sai Kishore said. "Indian cricket is filled with talent and to be fair, though I took around three wickets per game last season, it wasn't my best season. I just took it in my stride and focussing on my performance. Performing for my team is my only focus."
Sai Kishore was not picked in the South Zone squad for the season-opening Duleep Trophy and instead went to the UK to play six first-class games for Gloucestershire. His dismissal of Ben Stokes from left-arm around the wicket: getting the ball to turn back in against the angle and knock out the off stump went viral on social media.
"Getting a batsman like Stokes who has played so much Test cricket gives a lot of confidence," Sai Kishore said. "Because until you play Test cricket, you won't know what [the pressures of] Test cricket is. When you're able to outbeat someone like Stokes, it gives me a lot of confidence, in terms of my skill-set."
Even at Chepauk on Tuesday, Sai Kishore created sharp angles from both over the wicket and round the wicket to keep the Uttarakhand batters guessing. In an IPL game against Sunrisers Hyderabad in April 2025, Sai Kishore had bested Heinrich Klaasen by quickly switching his angle.
"He bowled over the stumps to Klaasen so that he could take the ball away from his arc," Ambati Rayudu had said on Cricinfo's TimeOut show at the time. "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."
Sai Kishore felt that his conversations with MS Dhoni during his time at Chennai Super Kings - both as a net bowler and spare bowler in the squad - encouraged him to expand his range as a spinner.
"Changing angles was something I learnt during my stint at CSK," Sai Kishore said. "MS Dhoni was very heavy on that, but at the time, I didn't have understanding of it. But over the last few years, I've embraced it. When I bowl from different angles, I think it behaves differently. I think I'm reaping the rewards now."
Sai Kishore also dipped into his carrom ball occasionally against Uttarakhand, but after understanding that the Chepauk surface was favouring his stock ball more, he put his new toy away and kept it simple. He had also experimented with his carrom ball during his recent county stint with Gloucestershire and hopes to bring it out on much flatter pitches in domestic cricket.
"When there's a partnership on a flat wicket, you need to do something out of the ordinary," Sai Kishore said. "When you need to psych a batsman, you need the variation. I bowled two-three carrom balls here as well. If a difficult situation comes up, I will definitely lean on it."
Tamil Nadu's dressing room was far from a happy one in recent seasons with multiple instances of friction between coaches and senior players. In this season, Sai Kishore, who has returned as captain, and new coach V Yo Mahesh have been big on building camaraderie and keeping everyone together in the dressing room.
Ahead of their first home game in Chepauk, Tamil Nadu had a team-bonding session, which included watching actor Rajinikanth's latest blockbuster Jailer 2 in the theatres.
"Yomi [Yo Mahesh] anna and Cheena [R Srinivasan, assistant coach] anna have got the team together and credit to them," Sai Kishore said. "There's a good vibe in the team and everyone is happy for each other's success. Hopefully, with that energy, things start going our way once again."
Sai Kishore, though, won't celebrate until he's done with some unfinished business.
"I take it very personally that we have to win the Ranji Trophy for Tamil Nadu," Sai Kishore said. "So, whenever that is done, I think I can actually celebrate."