New Zealand vs India 2020 | Ish Sodhi praises Indian counterparts Virat Kohli, R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, and Rishabh Pant; talks role as a spin consultant of Rajasthan Royals
Ludhiana-born New Zealand leg-spinner Ish Sodhi has revealed the respect he has for the Indian counterparts for helping him increase his knowledge about leg-spin bowling, the mindset of the modern T20I batsmen and the role of IPL.
Speaking to Hindustan Times, Sodhi explained how the Indian team players helped him understand the T20 batsman's mindset better through their conversations over the years. He picked the names of Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Virat Kohli, and Rishabh Pant and especially praised Yuzvebdra Chahal for sharing valuable insights of the game.
“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... he is enamoured by Ashwin’s range of tricks and Jadeja’s work ethic."
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Sodhi revealed how much he learnt from the likes of Ashwin and the different set of variations to the table. Sodhi also stated how speaking with Jadeja helped him realise the importance of work ethic and good fielding.
“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-wpinner. It’s crazy.”
Despite being out-of-form and favour for a couple of months now, Indian wicket-keeper batsman Rishabh Pant received admiration from Sodhi due to his big-reach against spinners round the world. Sodhi explained that his attacking mindset in the middle changed the way the spinners bowled to him with varying lines and lengths.
“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."
Sodhi also praised Indian captain Virat Kohli's planning against leg-spinner and how he was able to score a plethora of runs despite getting out to them more often than not. According to Sodhi, Kohli puts a lot of pressure on the bowler and needs to be attacked all the time to put him under pressure.
"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."
Sodhi also explained his role of a spin consultant of IPL franchise Rajasthan Royals at just an age of 27 years and how he could impart his knowledge of playing T20Is around the world to youngsters who are bursting onto the scene.
“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.”
