Source: Radio New Zealand
Ish Sodhi during New Zealand Blackcaps training Andrew Cornaga/www.photosport.nz
It is no surprise that spin has been the feature of the Black Caps training sessions this week as they prepare for their opening game of the T20 World Cup.
Coming off a 4-1 loss to India in the recent T20 series, the New Zealand team moved to Navi Mumbai to continue their build-up for their World Cup clash with Afghanistan on Sunday.
Leg spinner Ish Sodhi was one of five slow bowling options in the New Zealand squad and he was likely to see action during the tournament.
The 33-year-old had played 137 T20 internationals since making his debut in 2014 and in this tournament he could become New Zealand’s most successful bowler in the format.
He sits on 162 scalps, just two behind Tim Southee.
Sodhi, who was the number one ranked T20 bowler in 2018, said they had taken a number of lessons from the recent India series.
“They (India) were amazing in their own home conditions,” Sodhi said.
“The wickets were really flat and the boundaries small and it might be a similar diet to what we have in this World Cup and so it was great for us to be exposed to those conditions.
“If we can maintain the intensity that we played that series in then hopefully it holds us in good stead for the tournament.”
New Zealand bowler Ish Sodhi. Andrew Cornaga / www.photosport.nz / Photosport Ltd 2025
Ten years ago Sodhi and fellow spinner Mitchell Santner made their T20 World Cup debuts in India. They both featured as two of the tournaments leading wicket-takers by taking ten each with Santner named in the tournament team.
With so much cricket played in India now, all the New Zealand players are familiar with conditions in the sub-continent and what to expect.
“At training today the boys wanted to face spinners and see what their boundary and single options were so it was really cool that everyone is training specifically for that.”
However, Sodhi said it was important that they remain adaptable.
New Zealand play the USA in a World Cup warmup game on Friday morning.
“They’re a niggly team with plenty of experience,” Sodhi said of the USA.
“Because they play in the MLC (Major League Cricket T20 competition) they’re exposed to some really high quality cricket.”
That game will again provide some valuable information on the local conditions ahead of their tournament opener against Afghanistan in Chennai on Sunday.
New Zealand and Afghanistan have only met each other twice in T20’s.
The Black Caps beat Afghanistan at the 2021 T20 World Cup, but were beaten by them at the 2024 tournament in the West Indies.
Afghanistan beat Scotland by 61 runs in a World Cup warmup game on Monday.
Black Caps T20 World Cup schedule
- 8 February: 6.30pm v Afghanistan, Chennai
- 10 February: 10.30pm v UAE, Chennai
- 15 February: 2.30am v South Africa, Ahmedabad
- 17 February: 6.30pm v Canada, Chennai
The top two teams from the four groups advance to the Super 8 stage where they will be placed into two groups of four teams each, and will play three matches against one another. The top two teams in each group will advance to the knockout (semi-final) stage.
The final was scheduled for March 9.
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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand
