New Zealand leg-spinner Ish Sodhi, who got a surprise maiden Indian Premier League (IPL) call-up from Rajasthan Royals (RR) just a few weeks back for IPL 2018, has termed the IPL as the most fast-moving competition as compared to all other T20 leagues across the globe.
On his IPL experience, Sodhi described it as ‘surreal’ experience so far in the ongoing edition of the tournament. He also said that the IPL has been improving the cricket at a very fast rate.
Sodhi told Times of India, “A surprise call-up is a good way to put it. It was just a week into the off-season and I had just got free after playing some Test cricket, planning on how I was going to improve. Then this opportunity to play for Rajasthan Royals came around, took about week from the phone call and me being here. It’s been a blur for me so far, playing against my national captain (Kane Williamson), it’s been a surreal experience so far.”
The 25-year-old also wants to pick his head coach and Aussie legend Shane Warne’s brains as much as he can throughout the tournament. The leg-spinner further said, “He’s the greatest legspinner the game has seen. I am trying to pick his brains as much as I can. I think it’s balancing that with what I want to do with my own bowling — whether it is this tournament or improving myself in the future. I just need to keep getting better. Rubbing shoulders with Shane Warne is always going to be great!”
It is known that the Captains would like to trust on the wrist-spinners instead leg-spinner when it comes to T20 cricket in the modern era, and Sodhi feels “it is all because T20 has become batsman’s game.”
He added on the same, “In this day and age, T20 is a batsman’s game and people are starting to understand that picking wickets is really crucial. I think that’s why captains are starting to back their wrist spinners more and more. They are happy to let go 8, 9 or 10 an over if they are able to pick up two or three wickets. That acceptance has come that captains are prepared to leak runs as long as they can get wickets in the middle overs.”
On being asked to compare IPL with other T20 tournaments, the Indian-born-Kiwi cricketer said, “The dynamics of the IPL is a bit different — four foreign players in each side, about eight per squad, which makes it unique. The marketing and the hype around it is extreme.”
Sodhi signed off by saying, “The skill level is also improving every year — batters are hitting more sixes and bowlers are bringing in more variations. It’s a fast-moving competition, improving cricket at a very fast rate. Youngsters like Prithvi Shaw are playing incredible shots at 18-19 years of age.”
