Ish Sodhi

Most of the leg spinners in world cricket bowl with flair and guile, and the Kiwi leggie Ish Sodhi is definitely one among them. Despite making his international debut way back in 2013 in a Test match against Bangladesh, Sodhi is yet to find his feet in international cricket, more so in the longest format. 

Tipped as a Test material at the early part of his career, it was only two years after his Test debut that Sodhi got an opportunity to play in limited-overs cricket.

As his name suggests, Inderbir Singh (Ish) Sodhi is an Indian by origin, born in Ludhiana, in the Indian state of Punjab. He began playing cricket in Auckland and attended a school not known for its cricket. 

Sodhi took a considerable amount of time in establishing himself in regional representative teams, especially due to the fact that the Auckland pitches had hardly anything on offer for the spinners. In an era where wrist spinners have become the go-to bowlers for any captain, Sodhi is definitely a valuable player to have for the Kiwis.

Ish Sodhi Test Career

Ish Sodhi’s transition to top-level cricket was pretty rapid. He had just finished his maiden first-class season when Sodhi got a call-up to the New Zealand Test team, and a lot was expected of him.  

Sodhi made his Test debut for New Zealand against Bangladesh in Chattogram on October 9, 2013. However, he couldn’t quite prove his mettle consistently, which is often the case with spinners outside the subcontinent. However, he slammed an impressive 58, batting at number 10, in his second Test match.

The pitches in New Zealand hardly offer any assistance to the spinners, and his inability to bowl the correct line and lengths for a consistent period, even in subcontinental conditions, was pretty visible.

After almost 10 years of his debut, Sodhi scored 65, a personal best and the best score by a Kiwi number-ten batter in Test cricket, against Pakistan in Karachi in December 2022. In the very same game, Sodhi picked up his maiden five-wicket haul in the format.

Ish Sodhi T20I Career

Ish Sodhi remained in the fray for Test selection till 2014, but on the back of some poor performances, he was ousted from the squad, and pretty soon the selectors realised that he was better suited for the shorter formats.

Sodhi made his T20I debut for New Zealand on July 5, 2014, against the West Indies in Dominica. On the back of regular performances, Sodhi achieved the no.1 ranking for T20I bowlers in January 2018, jumping from no.10 at the end of the previous year.

Notably, in 2019, Sodhi endured one of the most mortifying series in T20I history. Managing to pick only 3 wickets over the course of 15 overs and leaked 11.73 runs and over. The figures were not only humiliating, but also the first and last time a player bowled more balls in a bilateral T20I series with a worse economy rate.

However, the wrist spinner worked hard on his skills and sought out his long-time team-mate, Mitchell Santner, for advice.

The leggie was a vital cog for New Zealand in the 2021 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup, helping them finish as the runners-up. He also achieved his then career-defining figures of 2/17 against India on his 29th birthday, winning Player of the Match and eliminating India's semifinal hopes.

He was later named in New Zealand’s squad for the 2024 ICC Men's T20 World Cup. However, he had a disappointing campaign, playing in only one of New Zealand's four group-stage matches against Papua New Guinea, where he recorded figures of 2-0-29-2.

Moreover, in October 2025, in a match against Australia, Sodhi became New Zealand's most-capped men's player in T20Is, appearing in his 127th match.

Ish Sodhi ODI Career

Ish Sodhi made his ODI debut for New Zealand on August 2, 2015, against Zimbabwe at Harare Sports Club. In April 2019, he was named in New Zealand's squad for the 2019 Cricket World Cup, but played only one match in the tournament.

Sodhi’s career-best ODI bowling figures of 6/39 came against Bangladesh on September 23, 2023, in Mirpur.

Sodhi was offered an IPL contract by the Rajasthan Royals in 2018 as they had a pretty mediocre spin department. His wicket-taking abilities in the white-ball formats made the franchises take notice of him. He came up with some impressive performances for the Royals but has only been part of the XI on a handful of occasions. It remains to be seen how his career shapes up in the coming few years. 

(As of February 2026)