Tamil Nadu Ranji captain R Sai Kishore is a bag full of surprises.
For a cricketer who comes across as disciplined on and off the field, he is hard to predict.
Sai Kishore best describes himself as ‘paithiyakaran’ (eccentric). He has a reason for it too. ‘I don’t know what I’m going to do next. I’m very unpredictable and hard to understand. I will do something, because the thought strikes my head. There is no reason behind it,’ the Ranji skipper says.
It is a notion even some of his teammates agree to.
There are reasons for it. In 2021, having spent three weeks in a bio-secure bubble as a reserve player of the India white-ball squad at the end of West Indies series in Guwahati, Sai Kishore didn’t pack his bags and head home to spend time with his family.
Instead, he dropped a text message to his family and took a trip down to remote places in the North east, exploring the local culture, before finding a serene spot in a hilly terrain, somewhere between Assam and Nagaland, to meditate.
‘I just went to explore the places and found myself in a totally remote hilly region. Except for the sound of the birds, there was nothing else and I started to meditate for a while,’ he tells The Indian Express. ‘When I opened my eyes, there was a monk for company. Once we finished meditation, we walked for a few hours, where he shared about his journey. He had by then walked more than 1500km, which was stunning. And I joined him for a couple of hours,’ he says.
This isn’t a one-off. Sai Kishore, who is spiritual, has a habit of taking off to temples and hilly terrains. One can often find him at Tiruvannamalai temple, which is four hours by road from Chennai. It is the place he frequents these days, where he will cover the 14-km long girivalam (walk around the hill).
It sounds common, but he doesn’t end there. He will meditate for hours and rest with the hermits, sleep on the floor, using his elbow as his pillow.
The mornings are spent cleaning the mutt and the spots he hung around, before he indulges in annadhanam (serves food) in the afternoon. ‘There is so much calmness and positive vibe over there. I like such places. Just like our dressing room. This is all Iraivan arul (God’s grace),’ he says pointing skywards.