Ish Sodhi, a legspinner from New Zealand, has supported the “experienced heads” in his team to recover from the loss in the first Test match against Bangladesh. Tim Southee, the captain of New Zealand, believed that his team didn’t bowl consistently in the proper places for long enough after they lost by 150 runs in Sylhet.
The final batsman dismissed at Sylhet, Sodhi, claimed that the home team’s outstanding performance also provided New Zealand with the “blueprint” for how to play in these conditions.
“The great success this [New Zealand] team’s had over the past decade has been being able to park these sort of things pretty quickly, whether it’s success or loss,” Sodhi stated. But that will be put to the test. Nothing should ever be taken for granted. It is never easy to bounce back from a defeat. However, with the knowledgeable individuals here, we’ve been there and done that. We are aware of how to exert ourselves in the upcoming games. We’re hoping that’s something we can fully commit to for this upcoming game.
“Obviously, it was difficult to lose the first Test match at Sylhet, but I believe we developed a little bit more rhythm as the match went on. It will always be difficult in these conditions because, obviously, I haven’t played Test cricket in a long time. Bangladesh played better than we did, without a doubt. However, after some thought, I believe they provided us with a guide on what works well in these circumstances, which we can hopefully use for this next Test match.”
In the first Test, Bangladesh scored 338 and 310, totals that Southee believed were higher than what New Zealand ought to have given up. In an effort to tie the two-Test series, Sodhi also urged the bowlers to be accurate in their deliveries.
“It is about just working in partnerships and being a little bit more accurate,” Sodhi stated. “I’m hoping that over the next several days, we can get together as a bowling group and talk about how to improve as a spin bowling group, seam bowling group, or whatever it looks like. Not playing a lot of Test cricket for an extended period of time is going to be difficult, but when you gel, it will all come down to how quickly you can adjust.
Sometimes you wish you could have adjusted in the previous game more quickly, but it’s too late to sort of look back. We must attempt to apply all of the lessons we learned from the previous game to this one in the hopes that we can prevail.”
For the second Test, which begins on Wednesday, Sodhi—who took three wickets in Sylhet—will go back to Mirpur, the scene of his highest ODI haul of 6 for 39, which he achieved in September while hitting 35 off 39 balls against Bangladesh.
“Going into conditions where you have had a bit of success, you always have a bit more confidence going into games like that,” he stated. “All we’ll have to do is lay out the circumstances as clearly as we can, determine whether the situation will turn, and if not, what that means for our offensive and defensive strategies. Thus, I am eagerly anticipating the second Test, but not before a few excellent, demanding practice sessions.”
