There is always a role for Kohli-Rohit-Williamson in T20 format, says Ish Sodhi

Ish Sodhi

Inderbir Singh Sodhi is considered to be one of the greats of the game in the T20 format. Popularly known as Ish Sodhi, the Indian-origin Kiwi player, who was born in Ludhiana, is one of the few players to get over 100 wickets in the T20 format and that too an economy rate of around 8 runs per over. Moneycontrol spoke to Sodhi during ongoing India’s tour of New Zealand on a range of issues. Here is an edited excerpt.

Your thoughts on this series… Obviously, the first game has been washed out… fans are disappointed…
Yeah pretty gutted, for it to be raining, it’s always exciting when India comes ‘bada maza aa raha hai’. We are really excited to have India here…hopefully the next few games will be played without any disturbance.

There is a huge debate going on in India, as to why someone like Yuzvendra Chahal was not part of the playing 11. As a leg spinner, what do you think about that?
I am really biased, as a leg spinner…I think leg spinners are match-winners for T20 teams around the world and Yuzvendra Chahal is a great bowler. I speak to him about leg spin and we always speak about different ways of getting better as a leg spinner. It would have been great to see him play but there are some great spinners in India. Finger spinners have been fantastic for India for a long period of time now, so yeah India got a lot of resources.

So were you as baffled as many experts to see India hesitant to pick Yuzi in the playing 11?
To be honest, it was during our campaign so I really did not think much about it, I was focusing on the game we were playing but it must have been hard for them…with Ashwin there and Axar Patel, who has done so well, they got so many resources that must be tough.

Do you think T20 is a different game and the way the England team is playing it’s not cricket?
Yeah definitely it is the fastest format, it’s short. T20 has come a long way, and the batters are more aggressive than they used to be and the bowlers have to figure out ways to combat. I think when you play on grounds in Australia, good flat pitches, it shows that batters who are aggressive definitely play into their hands.

From a bowler’s perspective when you see a debate going on about whether it’s Kane Williamson or Virat Kohli or Rohit Sharma, they are legends of the game in all formats even if they are going under scrutiny because of their strike rate, does the game still have a space for someone to play as them or you have to come and bang the first ball like Jos Buttler or Glen Philip?I think there’s always room for some of those players. I think the players you named like Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and Kane Williamson, are such good stroke makers, and generally, when they do really well they strike at 150-160, and it looks like they are still going in at 120. They access a lot of different areas of the boundaries than perhaps for some guy to come out and hit a six, which some guys can’t do. So I think definitely there’s a role for those guys, great players of the game…Kohli had a great World Cup, Rohit Sharma is never far and neither is Kane Williamson.

When you see someone like Rishabh Pant, what do think about him? There is a debate going on in India about someone like Rishabh Pant not being able to play as consistently or make it into the playing 11 in the T20 format after having some staggering numbers in Test cricket.
Yes, Rishabh Pant is a very dangerous player…the depth in the Indian players is so vast that they can sometimes leave a few players out to give them rest and sometimes bring another team on tours who are incredibly dangerous, so I think a guy like Rishabh has a lot of cricket ahead of him…he has been around for a while but he is still a young guy. I think he will have a very long career and is a very dangerous player. Hopefully, he gets more chance to play.

India has come up with a new captain in Hardik Pandya and he is being seen as the first kind of T20 specialist player, someone who is athletic, fields well, bowls well and, of course, bats dangerously. What do you make of Hardik Pandya the all-rounder, Hardik the captain?
Yeah obviously, he has got a lot of success in IPL, obviously winning the IPL is no mean feat as a leader, so he has probably got some leadership skills and obviously as a player, he is a very dangerous player as he has shown over the last few years. I think it is great to see him come out and express himself the way he has, especially from an Indian background it’s really exciting to see the new generation of Indian talent coming through. IPL has been a great catalyst to take to international cricket and Hardik to be the captain is awesome for the Indian side going forward.

My final question, you understand Hindi and Punjabi…do you think that is one advantage the New Zealand team has as long as you are there in the playing 11, Indians can’t sledge you in Hindi!!
Yeah, that’s right…I can often hear them back and Sanju Samson tries to speak to me in Punjabi…(oh he does that) he tries, he tries (but he is a Keralite I am really surprised) yeah but his Punjabi is ok but you know we need to teach him some good ones, not the bad ones.