Ludhiana born Ish Sodhi turned out to be India’s nemesis as he went onto register superb figures of four overs, 17 runs and two wickets in a virtual quarter final match in Dubai. The tweaker dismissed two big fish—Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli to knock the fight out of one of the best cricket teams. When asked about his success in post match presentation, he credited ‘pre-match prep’ for his excellence on the field.
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“I am usually big on pre-match prep, with this bubble life we haven’t been able to see the ground until the day we come to the ground. The wicket here was one we had to adapt to pretty quickly. It was very different to what we played in Sharjah. The boundary sizes were very different. A big part of our game is using the spin bowlers in the middle. It was set up by the powerplay bowlers. Tim Southee getting that wicket late in the powerplay was massive for us and allowed us to do our job through the middle.”
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It wasn’t an easy journey so far for the Blackcaps. They opened their campaign against a rampaging Pakistan on one of the most turning tracks that was on offer during the tournament—Sharjah. Naturally, being a team from outside the Asian subcontinent, they lost; nonetheless, they pulled Pakistan close.
“We had a tough loss against Pakistan, it was hard not to think this is a really big game. Coming into the game we wanted to play as good a game we possibly could. To play the way we did tonight is one to definitely celebrate,” he added.
India’s globally acclaimed batting line-up put up another woeful performance to score a paltry 110 for seven. New Zealand, the bogey team for India at global events over the years, embarrassed Virat Kohli’s men, who didn’t even show any stomach for a fight after their skipper lost an important toss.
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