Though he doesnt remember much of his childhood spent in the bylanes of Ludhiana,Inderbir Sodhi can recall the very long flight that took his family out of India and to New Zealand: I was just four then,and didnt perhaps agree with my Dad that our lives could change for the better after the shift. Sixteen years down the line Sodhi,Ish to his friends and fans,is set to become the first India-born player to play for New Zealand. And to give him company during his debut series,his parents will fly from Auckland to Bangladesh. His father Raj Sodhi is a doctor and his mother Simrat,who sparked his love for cricket by enrolling him in Aucklands Papatoetoe Cricket Club when he was nine,is a teacher. Sodhi was part of the New Zealand A team that played four one-dayers against India A. Although he bagged just three wickets in the tournament,he was selected in the New Zealand team for the Bangladesh tour. Speaking from Visakhapatnam,the leg spinner shares his experience of Indian conditions. The temperature is the biggest shift,the amount you sweat,the amount you have to drink to stay hydrated is extremely different, he says. Definitely,I think it was the ideal preparation for the Bangladesh tour. Sodhi started as a pacer,but switched to spin during a coaching clinic in suburban Auckland conducted by former New Zealand offie Dipak Patel. Having taken up off-spin to start with,Sodhi started bowling wrist spin after watching Anil Kumble and Shane Warne on TV. Kumble,warne admirer I was so enamoured with Dipaks bowling style,but I could not get that action. Bowling leg-breaks came naturally to me, he says. When I started bowling leg-spin,Anil Kumble and Shane Warne were my inspiration. It was a good era to grow up watching them and aspiring to be like them. Sodhi idolises Kumble and wants to meet him one day. He has watched tapes of Kumbles 10-wicket haul against Pakistan a number of times. I admired Kumbles accuracy,his attacking nature and his ability to get bounce, he says. Above all,I loved watching his presence. Whenever he bowled,something was bound to happen,and you always wanted him to do well. With 12 first class matches behind him,Sodhi has rocketed up the spin charts to sit behind left-armer Bruce Martin,the incumbent Test tweaker. With Daniel Vettori (Achilles surgery) absent and Jeetan Patel and Tarun Nethula out of favour,the leggie seems a good future prospect. I toss the ball up quite a bit and try to give it a rip, he says,speaking of his style. I hope to be able to contribute at Test level,and play all three forms and be effective.
