The New Zealand bowler talks about spin, his love of stats, his early life in India and having a haircut beside Anil Kumble

Freelance Cricket Club has been away for a little while – don’t worry, it’s not artistic differences – but we are making our return from New Zealand with a chat with the Black Caps spinner Ish Sodhi.



Sodhi is not your average cricketer. For starters, he’s a leg-spinner, but not many of them can claim to have had their hair cut in the seat next to Anil Kumble (Sodhi’s hero) or have given a TED Talk on their journey into the game.

Sodhi was born in India before growing up in south Auckland and his route to leg-spin was slow and rambling. He began bowling fast, then met Dipak Patel, the former New Zealand spinner, aged 10 and took up “violent leg-spin”.

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He first played for New Zealand back in October 2013 aged 20, having been drafted in from an A tour. He has played 13 more Tests, mainly away from home, but was recently racked No1 T20i bowler, and that is the format in which he has enjoyed most success. Memorably at the World T20 in 2016 – just his sixth international in the format – he took three for 18 to skittle India for 79 and help New Zealand defend just 126. One of those four wickets was Virat Kohli, a story which he entertainingly recalls on the podcast.

More recently, Sodhi returned to New Zealand’s ODI side for the series against England, picking up six wickets across their two victories, and three more in the defeat at Wellington. He just missed out on selection for the upcoming two-Test series to Todd Astle on the basis of his batting. This summer he will return to play for Nottinghamshire in the T20 Blast, where he won the title last year. He talked about why he loves the competition and why bowling in England can be a total pain.

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