Indian-born New Zealand cricketer Ish Sodhi developed his passion for leg-spinning after watching videos of greatest spinners; Anil Kumble and Shane Warne. They were the big inspiration for the young Sodhi who is a prominent player for the Kiwis.
Ish Sodhi made the debut for New Zealand in 2013 and so far has played 33 ODIs, 17 Tests and 45 T20Is. He learned the art of bowling leg-spin under his childhood coach Dipak Patel. The 27-year old never watched Kumble and Warne playing live but got inspired by them after watching their videos on YouTube. He was in awe of the craft of the legends and developed his love for leg-spinning.
“I fell in love with the art of bowling leg-spin while bowling under Dipak Patel. He was my coach when I was in an academy and was somewhere around 12 or 13. I couldn’t really bowl off-spin, so I learned leg-spin under his watch,” Sodhi told Cricket.com.
“Then being part of a generation where YouTube is accessible and I watched videos of Shane Warne and from there my love for leg-spin developed. After that, I started following Anil Kumble, and then Stuart MacGill. Those three during that era were the best and for me watching them as a young leg-spinner was a great inspiration.”
Anil Kumble and Shane Warne had one thing in common: Ish Sodhi
While playing for Rajasthan Royals, Ish Sodhi played under the guidance of Shane Warne who was the mentor of the franchise. He had also met the former Indian head coach Anil Kumble during India’s tour. The Kiwi bowler had deep discussions with Kumble and got some valuable insight.
“Shane Warne has got the greatest cricketing brain I have come across. He understands the game really well and has a very simple approach. Anil Kumble was great when I spoke to him for about an hour in Kolkata once. Also spoke to him about his battles with Australia and what it was like to bowl in India. Something like changing your lengths and I got some valuable insights,” he said.
Ish Sodhi spotted one common thing among the greatest spinners. He said that all of them were aggressive and had a hunger for picking wickets.
“As a spinner, you think you have to hit the same line and length every time but that’s not the case. It was something I learned from him. I also worked a lot with Stuart MacGill for a couple of years. We became really good friends. Great interactions, all of them! The main thing that they all have in common is that they are aggressive and always looking for wickets.”
Shane Warne (708 in 145) and Anil Kumble (619 in 132) are among the just four bowlers in cricket history who have over 600 Test wickets in their name.