New Zealand vs India 2020: Ish Sodhi Believes ‘More Aggressive Bowling’ is the Key to Restrict Indian Batters

Jan 25, 2020 at 6:55 PM

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New Zealand vs India 2020: Ish Sodhi Believes ‘More Aggressive Bowling’ is the Key to Restrict Indian Batters

After the spellbinding series opener on Friday, both New Zealand and India cricket teams are buckling up for the second game on January 26 in Auckland. Ahead of the 2nd T20I game on Sunday, the Kiwi spinner Ish Sodhi said that a ‘more aggressive’ approach with the ball will be the key to restrict Indian batters.

The bowler said that going for around 200 runs in the Twenty20 game altogether have been good for the hosts. However, Indian batters were difficult to tackle.

“We put 200 on the board again. If we can look to be more aggressive with the ball that attitude will be a great learning from the first game. If we are going to go for runs or miss out on a couple opportunities for wickets, you only learn after you try it out,” said Sodhi on Saturday.

In the first game at Eden Park, Sodhi was the only New Zealand bowler to have been successful. He bagged two wickets for the Kiwis. After the first game, Sodhi said that the team will have to discuss the strategies but he believes that the attacking attitude will be important in the impending game.

“You have to see how the game is going on. But it differs from batsman to batsman and bowler to bowler. You have to discuss with the captain and the bowling group as well,” Sodhi said.

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“Mitchell Santner and myself do that a lot. Last night he was in the outfield so I spoke a lot with Kane (Williamson). I bowled 2-3 overs’ spell, and one of them was a defensive spell; the other was an attacking spell. So we have to bowl with the same attacking attitude throughout,” he added.

Ish Sodhi: ‘India has five or six world-class batsmen, it’s difficult to contain them’

The Black Cap leg-spinner also said that India has world-class batsmen by their side and it will be difficult to restrict them, especially in favourable conditions. And with the small boundary at the Eden Park, it will be of greater challenge to take out the top batsmen with minimal damage to the hosts.

According to him, the only way to halt Indian batters will be to have a more aggressive approach with the ball.

“They have five or six world-class batsmen in their side and it will always be difficult to contain them at the best of times. Eden Park with its boundary size is a challenge as well,” said Sodhi.

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“Kane was good with the bowlers at end of the game and the thinking as a bowling group was that we have to take wickets. 45 from 4 overs would be decent here but it won’t be on many other grounds. So we have to make the aggressive shift for the next game but we did really good with 200 runs on the board. We just need to defend it better.”

Ish Sodhi blames light towers?

In the meantime, Sodhi expressed his worry when he had dropped Virat Kohli’s catch while citing the low towers make things somewhat difficult.

“The lights here are a bit different as most stadiums have five-six towers. Here they are low and in a line, so it can be tough catching. It hits you harder when the ball comes down, but no excuses,” he said.

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“When that catch went down (off Virat Kohli), I was thinking what if he scores big now. But that is the nature of professional cricket and you have to take your chances,” Sodhi signed off.

Sodhi, who picked the crucial wicket of set KL Rahul (56) will be in the bowling mainstay for New Zealand in the next T20I game.

On the other hand, Sodhi also became the leading wicket-taker against India in the shorter version of the game. It will be important for the hosts to look for a way to stop India’s top-order.

Meanwhile, India looks good with all the key players in the prime form. Eden Park, Auckland will host the second T20I match on Sunday (26 January).

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