India vs New Zealand: Ish Sodhi’s ‘turn’ to shine in country of birth

At 23, Ish Sodhi is a confident lad. Having done well earlier in his native country and knowing a thing or two about handling pressure situations, he will like to make a statement against India in the first Test at Kanpur.

How many times have you seen a side chase down 18 runs required in the final over? Even after taking the batsman-friendly rules, the changes Twenty20 (T20) cricket has introduced and the heavy bats into consideration, the odds are pretty low. The probability of even a recognised batsman getting those runs is very slim, let alone a bowler. The pressure is immense in such situation and more than the skills, it takes solid temperament to deal with it. Young Ish Sodhi has been through the situation, in a high-pressure World Cup quarter-final, and came out of it victorious with flying colours, that too at a tender age of 19.

The occasion was the knockout game of ICC Under-19 World Cup in 2012, where New Zealand were playing against West Indies, who had a fairly decent pace attack. Chasing 238 to win, New Zealand were left with 22 runs to get from the last two overs. The penultimate over was bowled by Ronsford Beaton, who was one of the best bowlers of the World cup so far. He conceded only four runs off it and more importantly, dismissed the well-set Cam Fletcher, who was New Zealand’s last hope, for 49. Sodhi, the specialist bowler in the side, was left with the daunting task of getting 18 runs of final six deliveries. With all eyes firmly set on him, the youngster was about to live the most important six-odd minutes of his short life thus far.

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The sequence in the final over read 4, 1, 1 lb, 6, 2, 4, as Sodhi smashed 17 off the five balls he faced and guided his side to the semi-final. There were unbelievable scenes at Townsville, Australia as Sodhi’s teammates came running towards him and dogpiles him for what he had just executed. New Zealand went on to lose the semi-final to the eventual winners India by a small margin, but New Zealand had found one for the future in Sodhi. That is precisely why they handed him a Test debut against Bangladesh just a year later with experience of only one full season of First-Class cricket and not enough wickets to back the decision to field him.

A dream realised

Sodhi’s family migrated from Ludhiana in Punjab, where Ish was born, to Auckland in 1996. Young Ish was only a four-year-old then. He was enrolled in Papatoetoe High School, South Auckland where he took his first steps in cricket. It was not until 14 that Sodhi decided to pursue cricket as a career and dreamed of making it to the New Zealand national team. But the road was not easy. With limited assistance to spinners in Auckland’s playing conditions, he decided to train under former New Zealand cricketers Dipak Patel and Matt Horne. This, along with the decision to switch to Northern Districts from Auckland, fast-tracked his career.

After playing for the U-19 side and the New Zealand ‘A’ team, he was picked for the tour of Bangladesh in 2013 where he made his Test debut. He played a couple of games there and returned back with six wickets and more promise for the future. “On a surface that didn’t have a lot of bounce, he [Sodhi] hit the gloves a couple of times. He is a good prospect for us. He is not a finished product yet, but he is worth investing in for the future,” Hesson had told the media on that tour.

Three games later, Sodhi played the biggest game of his career thus far, when he was up against the country of his birth India at his hometown in Auckland. It was a big moment for the youngster, as his family and friends cheered for him from the stands at Eden Park. It is one moment which he will cherish forever, as it was his dream to play a Test at his home. Though he did not do enough in that game and went wicket-less, the next three away series against West Indies, Pakistan (in UAE) and Zimbabwe (recently, last month) fetched him eight wickets each. In the meantime, he also made his One-Day International (ODI) and T20 International debuts and established himself as a useful player.

Homecoming

The current tour to India is possibly the biggest challenge in Sodhi’s short career so far. It is going to be a tough series where spin will take the centre stage and in such a scenario, the spotlight from the Black Caps’ camp shall be on Sodhi. The expectations from him will be huge, and there is a rational reason behind it.

Earlier this year, when New Zealand came to India in order to participate in the ICC World T20 2016, Sodhi was a part of their spin trio along with Mitchell Santner and the experienced Nathan McCullum. By the time the tournament finished, Sodhi emerged as the joint highest wicket-taker along with Santner in the main round (excluding Afghan duo of Mohammad Nabi and Rashid Khan, who played the qualifiers too) and returned back with his reputation enhanced.

The highlights of his performance from that campaign were 3 for 18 against tournament favourites India, who were bundled out by the Kiwi troika for 79, and 3 for 21 against Bangladesh. Interestingly, his top performances came against the teams from Indian subcontinent, which are known as best players of spin.

Coming back to the current series, Sodhi will hope for an encore of that tournament, when he and Santner floored the mighty Indians. He cherishes playing alongside the left-armer, with whom he has also played a lot of domestic cricket together at the Northern Districts. Besides, he will also have Mark Craig for company, and he is already relishing the prospect of playing India in India along with his spin partners. “I really enjoy a lot bowling with those guys, being around with them, talking spin with them. Lot of knowledge there in terms of spin bowling. We have all played enough cricket together to understand how each other work. It’s an exciting prospect over the next three or four weeks,” he recently told IndiaToday.in.

At 23, he is a confident lad. Having done well earlier in his native country and knowing a thing or two about handling pressure situations, Sodhi will hope to make a statement in the series that starts with the first Test at Kanpur on September 22.

(A self-confessed cricket freak, Chinmay Jawalekar is a senior writer with CricLife and CricketCountry. When not writing or following cricket, he loves to read, eat and sleep. He can be followed here @CricfreakTweets)

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