The 21-year-old Ish Sodhi is all set to fulfill the long pending wish of his parents - playing international cricket against India, the country of his and their birth.
It has been quite a week for the Sodhis in Auckland ahead of the first Test match between New Zealand and India.
Ish, the leg spinner, was playing the domestic tournament for his team Northern Districts in Napier till Sunday. Rajbir Singh Sodhi, the cricketer's father, was away to Brisbane on a business trip and returned home only late on Tuesday. And, Simrat Sodhi, mother of Ish, has had a difficult time managing her teaching job, busy as she been handling alone all the congratulatory calls pouring in from India after her son was assured of his place in the playing eleven against the India in the first Test at the Eden Park.
No wonder the 21-year-old rising star of New Zealand cricket found nobody at home when he went to pick his Black Caps helmet on Tuesday morning.
"But, I know they are going to be there at the Eden Park on the first day. It is going to be a very special moment for me, mom and dad watching from the stands, watching me play against India," Ish told Mail Today.
Special it is certainly going to be for the family which migrated from Ludhiana in Punjab to Auckland in 1996. Ish was only a four-year-old then.
"I have got a great Indian heritage. We've been back there many times. It is still a very big part of my life. A lot of my family is there back in India. Getting a chance to play Test cricket against India is like cherry on top. It is very exciting to play against a team of a country where I was born. They are also one of the best teams in the world which throws up a huge challenge. It is also really big for an Indian or for the Indian community here to say that you can play for New Zealand if you do put in hard work. It is a big honour to represent the Black Caps . I am really looking forward to it. This (Eden Park) is a very special ground to me and I want to do well here," he says.
Coming from a family of academics, Ish, reveals his father, had his goals set right from the age of 14.
"Seven years ago, he came up to me and said 'Dad, can I ask for a favour. I love this game (cricket) and I want to do something big, please let me have a shot at this.' You see, it is very common in New Zealand for kids to get into sports. We had enrolled Ish in Papatoetoe Cricket Club. He had a natural interest in the game and had decided that he wants to become a cricketer. So, we never became a hurdle in his way," recalls 50-year-old Rajbir Singh Sodhi.
In 2009, when India toured New Zealand, Ish missed a chance to have a go at the Indian batsmen, albeit only in practice nets.
"I tried a couple of times but never got an opportunity to bowl in the nets. That was when Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid were here. Few of my mates got a chance to bowl to them and I was quite jealous. So, to have an opportunity to play against them at the Eden Park is quite surreal."
Surreal as well as a huge learning curve it can be for the youngster knowing well that Indian batsmen, always very good players of spin bowling, will have a go at him.
"I know it is going to be a big challenge but I am ready for it. I will just try to do the basics as well as I can. If I know I have bowled well, regardless of the fact whether I have got wickets or not, it will be satisfying.
Being only a 21-year-old, I know that I have a lot of time to keep on getting better. So, it is not really on my mind to go out there and get a lot of wickets. Bowling well will make me a lot happy. I have never gone into a series targeting a certain number of wickets, anyways," says the spinner who's got 11 wickets from five Tests till now.
Dipak Patel and Jeetan Patel have been New Zealand cricketers of Indian descent before Ish. And, going by his success, the Ludhiana-born leggie would only inspire many more Indian youngsters residing in this part of the world.
"He absolutely loves the environment he's in right now. Ish is very proud to sport a fern logo on his chest," says Rajbir who perhaps will find himself in a strange situation on Wednesday afternoon at the Eden Park to whether support his son's team or the team from his own country.
source: http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/new-zealand-vs-india-ish-sodhi-first-indian-to-play-for-black-caps/1/341893.html
It has been quite a week for the Sodhis in Auckland ahead of the first Test match between New Zealand and India.
Ish, the leg spinner, was playing the domestic tournament for his team Northern Districts in Napier till Sunday. Rajbir Singh Sodhi, the cricketer's father, was away to Brisbane on a business trip and returned home only late on Tuesday. And, Simrat Sodhi, mother of Ish, has had a difficult time managing her teaching job, busy as she been handling alone all the congratulatory calls pouring in from India after her son was assured of his place in the playing eleven against the India in the first Test at the Eden Park.
No wonder the 21-year-old rising star of New Zealand cricket found nobody at home when he went to pick his Black Caps helmet on Tuesday morning.
"But, I know they are going to be there at the Eden Park on the first day. It is going to be a very special moment for me, mom and dad watching from the stands, watching me play against India," Ish told Mail Today.
Special it is certainly going to be for the family which migrated from Ludhiana in Punjab to Auckland in 1996. Ish was only a four-year-old then.
"I have got a great Indian heritage. We've been back there many times. It is still a very big part of my life. A lot of my family is there back in India. Getting a chance to play Test cricket against India is like cherry on top. It is very exciting to play against a team of a country where I was born. They are also one of the best teams in the world which throws up a huge challenge. It is also really big for an Indian or for the Indian community here to say that you can play for New Zealand if you do put in hard work. It is a big honour to represent the Black Caps . I am really looking forward to it. This (Eden Park) is a very special ground to me and I want to do well here," he says.
Coming from a family of academics, Ish, reveals his father, had his goals set right from the age of 14.
"Seven years ago, he came up to me and said 'Dad, can I ask for a favour. I love this game (cricket) and I want to do something big, please let me have a shot at this.' You see, it is very common in New Zealand for kids to get into sports. We had enrolled Ish in Papatoetoe Cricket Club. He had a natural interest in the game and had decided that he wants to become a cricketer. So, we never became a hurdle in his way," recalls 50-year-old Rajbir Singh Sodhi.
In 2009, when India toured New Zealand, Ish missed a chance to have a go at the Indian batsmen, albeit only in practice nets.
"I tried a couple of times but never got an opportunity to bowl in the nets. That was when Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid were here. Few of my mates got a chance to bowl to them and I was quite jealous. So, to have an opportunity to play against them at the Eden Park is quite surreal."
Surreal as well as a huge learning curve it can be for the youngster knowing well that Indian batsmen, always very good players of spin bowling, will have a go at him.
"I know it is going to be a big challenge but I am ready for it. I will just try to do the basics as well as I can. If I know I have bowled well, regardless of the fact whether I have got wickets or not, it will be satisfying.
Being only a 21-year-old, I know that I have a lot of time to keep on getting better. So, it is not really on my mind to go out there and get a lot of wickets. Bowling well will make me a lot happy. I have never gone into a series targeting a certain number of wickets, anyways," says the spinner who's got 11 wickets from five Tests till now.
Dipak Patel and Jeetan Patel have been New Zealand cricketers of Indian descent before Ish. And, going by his success, the Ludhiana-born leggie would only inspire many more Indian youngsters residing in this part of the world.
"He absolutely loves the environment he's in right now. Ish is very proud to sport a fern logo on his chest," says Rajbir who perhaps will find himself in a strange situation on Wednesday afternoon at the Eden Park to whether support his son's team or the team from his own country.
source: http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/new-zealand-vs-india-ish-sodhi-first-indian-to-play-for-black-caps/1/341893.html
