Abu Dhabi: While New Zealand’s best spin-bowler Ish Sodhi is in the UAE showing off his skills with the ball, he has given a sneak peek at an alternate career option via a video that was first uploaded on the Blacks Caps’ Facebook page.
The 25-year-old Indian-born cricketer is seen showing his rapping skills with a cricket version of Vanilla Ice’s ‘Ice Ice Baby’, entitled ‘Ice Ice Sodhi’.
"We have seen Australia struggle over here and the Pakistanis have played some competitive cricket. It is definitely going to be challenging."
— Ish Sodhi
In the short clip he raps about his skills, where his “googly turns into you sharply and is even more deadly than a yorker from Starcy… and can hit the gloves harder than a bumper from Brett Lee”.
And though the leg-spinner’s rap proficiencies are as cool as it can get, he will be definitely be feeling the heat as his team endure the ongoing desert challenge against the world No. 1 T20 side — Pakistan.
The challenge is all the more daunting as the Kiwis have come into the series after a seven-month long sabbatical from international cricket. Sodhi accepted that the team will have to handle a great deal of pressure in the series but was quick to add that it has a lot to do with the alien conditions.
“Yes, there is pressure but the pressure comes from not knowing these conditions as well as the Pakistanis do. I think they have got the upper hand in terms of knowing the conditions but I still back my team to do well in any circumstances,” said Sodhi, whose conclusions have a lot to do with the way Pakistan routed Australia in their recent three-match T20 series in Dubai and Abu Dhabi. The men from Down Under only managed totals of 89, 136 and 117 in their humiliating series defeat.
“We have got some fantastic players that have performed well in T20 cricket for a long time now. So for sure we are going to back ourselves. If we perform our roles well, I think we stand a good chance.”
Sodhi was pretty impressive in the warm-up match against the UAE where he claimed two wickets conceding just 11 runs.
“We have come here wanting to be really competitive,” he said. “We have seen Australia struggle over here and the Pakistanis have played some competitive cricket and it is definitely going to be challenging.
“They are really good players of spin. They use their feet well and sweep really hard in front of square.”
Sodhi added it will be interesting to see how the wicket plays. “When I watched Pakistan and Australia contest on TV it wasn’t spinning a hell of a lot and been a little bit low and slow,” he said. “I guess it will be about figuring out what the batsmen are trying to do on the given day and trying to make a plan accordingly out in the middle.”
Sodhi has another spin partner in uncapped Ajaz Patel. The 30-year-old was with the New Zealand ‘A’ team, which defeated Pakistan ‘A’ 2-1 in the T20 series and Sodhi backed the left-armer to do well.
“Patel has had a fantastic summer and he thoroughly deserves this opportunity and I hope he goes really well,” he said. “It is nice to have a left-arm spinner in the side. It can be very effective in T20 cricket for not only holding but being a real attacking options through the middle as well.”
