New Zealand spinner Ish Sodhi has revealed that he still texts legendary late spinner Shane Warne, stating that he wishes he could see the new delivery that the Kiwi spinner was developing.

The New Zealand leg-spinner, who idolized Warne, frequently finds himself thinking about the game's greatest as he strives to master a delivery popularized by the Australian legend. As Sodhi, the third-highest wicket-taker in T20Is, adds fresh weapons to his repertoire, his thoughts return to 2010, when he had the opportunity to pick Warne's brain at the Rajasthan Royals.

Even today, he occasionally sends a text to Warne’s old phone number, not expecting a reply, but believing, in some way, that the message still reaches him. Shane Warne passed away while vacationing in Thailand in March 2022.

Warne's impact remains crucial to Sodhi's development and evolution, and he hopes to master the flipper, which skids after throwing.

“It's actually a ball that I have been working on for quite a while - it's an old-fashioned flipper, the same way Warnie taught it. When I was growing up, watching Warnie bowl the flipper was something I got addicted to watching. It hasn't been until probably the last couple of years of my career that I have actually started to use it a little bit more, but it's just my version of being able to bowl a ball that's slightly quicker,” Sodhi said to ESPNCricinfo.

Sodhi revealed that he sometimes sends a video of his flipper delivery to Shane Warne, knowing very well that it will go unseen.

“Sometimes I even send Warnie a text message every now and then with a video of the flipper that I have got a wicket with, and I'm like, ‘Warnie, wish you could see this!’ Obviously, he's not receiving them, or he might be receiving them somehow. Because of the couple of interactions that I had with him at Rajasthan Royals [Sodhi played for RR in the IPL in two seasons in the late 2010s], he taught me a few tricks around the flipper, so it's a shame that he can't see it come out,” he revealed.

Sodhi has played two T20 World Cup matches for New Zealand, and while he did not bowl against Pakistan, he returned 0/13 last evening against Sri Lanka in Colombo as the Kiwis defeated the co-hosts by 61 runs.