Inderbir Singh "Ish" Sodhi (born 31 October 1992) is a New Zealand

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by st ...

er born in

Punjab, India Punjab (; ) is a States and union territories of India, state in northern India. Forming part of the larger Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent, the state is bordered by the States and union territories of India, Indian states of Himachal ...

who represents the

New Zealand national cricket team The New Zealand national cricket team represents New Zealand in men's international cricket. Named the Black Caps, they played their first Test in 1930 against England in Christchurch, becoming the fifth country to play Test cricket. From 1930 ...

in all formats, and

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a cathedral city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, situated in the heart of the City of Canterbury local government district of Kent, England. It lies on the River Stour. The Archbishop of Canterbury is the primate of t ...

in domestic cricket. He

bowls Bowls, also known as lawn bowls or lawn bowling, is a sport in which the objective is to roll biased balls so that they stop close to a smaller ball called a "jack" or "kitty". It is played on a bowling green, which may be flat (for "flat-gr ...

right-arm

leg spin Leg spin is a type of spin bowling in cricket. A leg spinner bowls right-arm with a wrist spin action. The leg spinner's normal delivery causes the ball to spin from right to left (from the bowler's perspective) when the ball bounces on the ...

, and bats right-handed. He reached the no.1 ranking for T20I bowlers in January 2018, jumping from no. 10 at the end of the previous year.

Early life

Sodhi is ethnic

Punjabi Punjabi, or Panjabi, most often refers to: * Something of, from, or related to Punjab, a region in India and Pakistan * Punjabi language * Punjabi people * Punjabi dialects and languages Punjabi may also refer to: * Punjabi (horse), a British Th ...

and was born in

Ludhiana Ludhiana ( ) is the most populous and the largest city in the Indian state of Punjab. The city has an estimated population of 1,618,879 2011 census and distributed over , making Ludhiana the most densely populated urban centre in the state. I ...

, India to a

Sikh Sikhs ( or ; pa, ਸਿੱਖ, ' ) are people who adhere to Sikhism, Sikhism (Sikhi), a Monotheism, monotheistic religion that originated in the late 15th century in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent, based on the revelation of Gu ...

family. He moved to Papatoetoe, New Zealand with his family when he was four years old. He attended

Papatoetoe High School Papatoetoe High School (PHS) is a secondary school (years 9–13) in Papatoetoe suburb of Auckland, New Zealand. History Papatoetoe High School was established in 1956. February 2021 COVID-19 outbreak On 14 February, a Year 9 student at Papato ...

Domestic and T20 career

Sodhi made his debut for

Northern Districts The Northern Districts men's cricket team are one of six New Zealand first-class cricket teams that make up New Zealand Cricket. They are based in the northern half of the North Island of New Zealand (excluding Auckland). They compete in the ...

in the 2012–13 Plunket Shield season. In 2017, Sodhi was not named in the Test squad against Bangladesh, which enabled him to play for

Adelaide Strikers The Adelaide Strikers are an Australian professional Twenty20 franchise cricket team based in Adelaide, South Australia that compete in the Big Bash League (BBL).Cricket Australia (n.d), Teams and Players, Cricket Australia, accessed 1 Decembe ...

as an injury replacement for Chris Jordan. On 18 January in his third game for the Strikers, he ended the match with figures of 6/11 off 3.3 overs to win the match for the Strikers and Man of the Match. These are the second-best figures in

Big Bash The Big Bash League (known as the KFC Big Bash League for sponsorship reasons, often abbreviated to BBL or Big Bash) is an Australian professional club Twenty20 cricket league, which was established in 2011 by Cricket Australia. The Big Bash L ...

history after

Lasith Malinga Separamadu Lasith Malinga ( si, සෙපරමාදු ලසිත් මාලිංග; born 28 August 1983), nicknamed "Slinga Malinga", is a Sri Lankan former cricketer who is widely regarded as one of the greatest limited overs bowlers ...

's 6/7 from 4 overs between the

Melbourne Stars The Melbourne Stars are an Australian Twenty20 franchise cricket team, based in Melbourne, Victoria that competes in Australia's Twenty20 competition, the Big Bash League. The Stars wear a green uniform and play their home matches at the Melb ...

and Perth Scorchers. He was the leading wicket-taker in the

2018–19 Plunket Shield season The 2018–19 Plunket Shield was the 90th season of the Plunket Shield, the domestic first-class cricket competition in New Zealand. It took place between October 2018 and March 2019. Unlike the previous edition of the competition, the tourname ...

, with 36 dismissals in seven matches. He was released by the Rajasthan Royals ahead of the 2020 IPL auction. In July 2020, he was named in the

St Kitts & Nevis Patriots The St Kitts & Nevis Patriots are a Caribbean Premier League (CPL) cricket franchise based in Saint Kitts and Nevis, and participated in the competition for the first time in 2015. The team will play its home games at Warner Park, Basseterre, lo ...

squad for the

2020 Caribbean Premier League The 2020 Caribbean Premier League (CPLT20) or for sponsorship reasons, Hero CPL 2020 was the eighth season of the Caribbean Premier League, the domestic Twenty20 cricket league played in the West Indies. All matches were played in Trinidad ...

International career

His international debut for New Zealand came in a Test match against

Bangladesh Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mo ...

during New Zealand's 2013 tour of Bangladesh. He made his

Twenty20 International A Twenty20 International (T20I) is a form of cricket, played between two of the international members of the International Cricket Council (ICC), in which each team faces a maximum of twenty overs. The matches have top-class status and are th ...

debut against the West Indies in July 2014. In November 2014 Sodhi was selected for a three-test series against

Pakistan cricket team The Pakistan national cricket team or Pak cricket team, often referred to as the Shaheens (), Green Shirts, Men in Green and Cornered Tigers is administered by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB). The team is a Full Member of the International ...

. In the first Test, he scored 63, a personal best and the best score by a New Zealand number-ten batsman in Test cricket. Sodhi made his

One Day International A One Day International (ODI) is a form of limited overs cricket, played between two teams with international status, in which each team faces a fixed number of overs, currently 50, with the game lasting up to 9 hours. The Cricket World C ...

debut for New Zealand against Zimbabwe on 2 August 2015. In May 2018, he was one of twenty players to be awarded a new contract for the 2018–19 season by

New Zealand Cricket New Zealand Cricket, formerly the New Zealand Cricket Council, is the governing body for professional cricket in New Zealand. Cricket is the most popular and highest profile summer sport in New Zealand. New Zealand Cricket operates the New Z ...

. In April 2019, he was named in New Zealand's squad for the

2019 Cricket World Cup The 2019 ICC Cricket World Cup was the 12th Cricket World Cup, a quadrennial One Day International (ODI) cricket tournament contested by men's national teams and organised by the International Cricket Council (ICC). It was hosted between 30 May ...

. In August 2021, Sodhi was named in New Zealand's squad for the

2021 ICC Men's T20 World Cup The 2021 ICC Men's T20 World Cup was the seventh ICC Men's T20 World Cup tournament, with the matches played in the United Arab Emirates and Oman from 17 October to 14 November 2021. The West Indies were the defending champions, but were eventu ...

. In December 2022, Sodhi was recalled in New Zealand's Test squad after 4 years, for their tour to Pakistan. In the first Test, he picked up his maiden

five-wicket haul In cricket, a five-wicket haul (also known as a "five–for" or "fifer") occurs when a bowler takes five or more wickets in a single innings. This is regarded by critics as a notable achievement, equivalent to a century from a batsman. Takin ...

in Test cricket, besides scoring his career best 65 runs in the first innings.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sodhi, Ish 1992 births Living people Indian emigrants to New Zealand New Zealand people of Punjabi descent New Zealand sportspeople of Indian descent New Zealand cricketers New Zealand Test cricketers New Zealand One Day International cricketers New Zealand Twenty20 International cricketers Cricketers at the 2019 Cricket World Cup Northern Districts cricketers North Island cricketers Adelaide Strikers cricketers Nottinghamshire cricketers Rajasthan Royals cricketers Jamaica Tallawahs cricketers St Kitts and Nevis Patriots cricketers Worcestershire cricketers People educated at Papatoetoe High School Colombo Stars cricketers Welsh Fire cricketers