‘New Zealand spinner Ish Sodhi praised the skills that Indian cricketers have and also added that the respect he has for Virat Kohli’s side is for their willingness to share the knowledge with anyone who approaches them. The 27-year-old wrist spinner has talked about the likes of Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, and Yuzvendra Chahal, who he considers a friend of him.
“You start off with respect and want to tap into their brains. These are all very helpful guys more than willing to share their experiences,” Sodhi told PTI during an interview.
“Chahal is a great person to tap into. He is completely a different bowler, big hearted. It is great to rub shoulders with these guys and listen to their experiences.”
Ish Sodhi said that he is satisfied with Ashwin’s range of tricks and Jadeja’s work ethic as well.
“I was speaking to Jadeja the other day about how he goes on with his training. Talking to Ashwin about the carrom ball and the googly he bowls despite being an off-spinner. It’s crazy,” Sodhi said who has played 17 Tests, 32 ODIs and 45 T20 Internationals so far.
However, not only the Indian spinners but also he tries to understand the big-hitter like Rishabh Pant and his mindset. However, he couldn’t find any distinct weakness in the Indian captain Virat Kohli’s game.
“Like Rishabh, who is one of the most destructive hitters of spin. I would ask him what are the lengths that are hardest to hit. I have never seen someone with that kind of reach when he is attacking the spinners,” said Sodhi.
“Even though leg spinners get him out, he scores a lot of runs off them as well. Virat is a batsman you need to constantly attack or else he puts the pressure back on you. You need to come up with plans and be really courageous while bowling to him,” added the spinner.
Meanwhile, in 27, Ish Sodhi will be seen as a spin consultant for IPL franchise Rajasthan Royals in the upcoming Indian Premier League.
“It’s a challenging role and the one that I am looking forward to. My main role will be that of spin consultant and devise plans for the spinners. Try and give them advice about some of the overseas players they haven’t played before,” Sodhi spoke about his role in the IPL.
“The biggest thing he told me was to stay calm and relaxed as I approached the crease so that I could create a nice base and spin the ball from there,” he recalled.
“In T20 cricket, you can lose that as you try to bowl fast. Most of the time, you don’t have a base to go up and over the ball a number of times. (Will be) trying to use those old tips that I got from him.”
Although he is not a part of the New Zealand squad for the first Test which will take on India, he shared his views on what would be the spinners’ role in the Test.
“Spinners would need to keep the stumps in play (bowl the stump line). In NZ, even for those who turn the ball away from right-handers, LBW is the mode of dismissal. Keeping it nice and straight. You have to be smart with your fields for Indian batsmen. You need to have people at the boundary as these are guys who are very good at picking the length,” he concluded.
