'Indian players are all very helpful guys more than willing to share their experiences' - Ish Sodhi

New Zealand and India share a connection that goes beyond the conventional field of cricket. There have been generations of Indians who moved to New Zealand for better opportunities and their descendants have represented the country in sports. Dipak Patel, Jeetan Patel, Jeet Raval, and Ish Sodhi are just some of the examples who have made New Zealand and their Indian roots proud.

Sodhi, in particular, has been a good performer for the Kiwis and shined in the recent T20Is and ODIs against India. He has also played in the Indian Premier League a lot and will be with the Rajasthan Royals as the spin consultant for the upcoming IPL 2020. He recently revealed the camaraderie between the players of two sides and how helpful the Indian players are when it comes to sharing knowledge about the game.

‘You start off with respect and want to tap into their brains’: Ish Sodhi

The 27-year-old Ludhiana born leggie shares a good relationship with Indian spinners like Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, and Yuzvendra Chahal, whom he considers a friend.

“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. 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,” Sodhi was quoted as saying by news18.com.

Sodhi has played 17 Tests, 32 ODIs and 45 T20 Internationals for the Black Caps and is highly impressed with Ashwin’s bag of tricks and Jadeja’s fitness and work ethics. He said, “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.”

Despite getting out to leg-spinners recently, Virat Kohli is a batsman who apparently has no weaknesses as per 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,” said Sodhi.

Sodhi had played for Royals in IPL 2019, and now will be with the franchise as their spin consultant, a role which he feels will be challenging, given he himself is just 27 years old.

“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.

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