You can never take a team like South Africa lightly: Ish Sodhi

New Zealand’s leg-spinner Ish Sodhi said that his side will not take South Africa lightly. He was talking ahead of the upcoming two-match Test series against South Africa. The series comprises of two Test matches with the first match beginning at Kingsmead, Durban on August 19.

AB de Villiers has been ruled out of the series due to an injury he suffered during the recently concluded Caribbean Premier League (CPL). Currently, New Zealand is ranked No.5 in Test cricket and South Africa is ranked No.6, but Sodhi said that the South Africa will be a different challenge for the Kiwis.

New Zealand is coming in the back of a 2-match series win against Zimbabwe as they seal the series 2-0. “[AB] is obviously an amazing player – one of the best, if not the best in the world in all formats – but you can never take a team like South Africa lightly,” he said on Monday.

“They have got runs from the top order to even the lower order and they’ve got bowlers who can back them up in any conditions. Again, it’s just how much we prepare in these three days of training and if we can put in the work, hopefully, we can put up a good performance,” the leg-spinner added.

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New Zealand decided to go in with just one spinner in the seamer friendly wicket. “Being able to adapt to different conditions has been a strength for us the last few years,” Sodhi said.

“And I guess we will look to do the same when we see the wicket tomorrow. It could be low and slow or it could be a little bit zippy for the pace bowlers, but we’ve definitely got all of the players to take those conditions on,” he added.

Sodhi doesn’t start off well in the Test series against Zimbabwe, but finished with bowling figures of seven for 79. “I think I’m trying to keep it a lot more simple,” Sodhi said.

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“But also I think it’s something to keep reinforcing. I know in the first test match I was a little bit nervous and didn’t stick to those processes as well as I could,” he added.

Sodhi further added that he is slowly getting back into the groove. “I don’t think I was fit enough to be able to bowl in the second innings when I first started playing cricket. I’ve still got a long way to go but I’m definitely getting a bit closer to that now,” he signed off.