An engineer by qualification, R Sathish moved to Chennai from Trichy to pursue a career in cricket. The batting all-rounder made it to the Tamil Nadu Ranji team in the 2000-01 season but moved to Assam after he failed to nail a permanent spot in the Tamil Nadu team. Sathish, who is also a medium pacer and a good fielder, was back in the folds of Tamil Nadu cricket after two productive seasons with Assam. When he became eligible to play in the IPL, the Mumbai Indians signed him. He was a part of the Kings XI Punjab from IPL 2012 but got limited opportunities there. He was the latest addition to the KKR setup after the franchise acquired him in the IPL player Auction 2016.