SA vs NZ: Why did Ish Sodhi miss semi-final 1 of T20 World Cup 2026?
(Courtesy : Twitter)
Ish Sodhi has played two games so far in the T20 World Cup 2026.
South Africa are squaring off with New Zealand in the semi-final of the T20 World Cup 2026. The SA vs NZ semi-final 1 got underway on Wednesday, March 4, at Eden Gardens in Kolkata.
Aiden Markram & Co. have been unbeaten in the ongoing T20 World Cup so far, winning 7 games in a row. They are also the only team to remain undefeated in the tournament so far. In the Super 8, they won back-to-back games against India, West Indies, and Zimbabwe to top the Group 1 points table.
Luck favoured New Zealand in the previous round, where they finished with a better Net Run Rate (NRR) than Pakistan to qualify for the semi-final from Group 2. After the first washed-out game against Pakistan, the Black Caps won against Sri Lanka but lost to England.
In the SA vs NZ clash, Black Caps captain Mitchell Santner won the toss and opted to field first. At the toss, he revealed that spinner Ish Sodhi is not part of the match.
Why is Ish Sodhi not playing against South Africa?
Notably, New Zealand have dropped spinner Ish Sodhi from the playing XI and added seam all-rounder James Neesham.
Since they played their last match against England in Sri Lanka, they preferred a spinner on a spin-friendly and turning wicket and rested Neesham. However, the latter was back in the semi-finals.
Moreover, Sodhi has also struggled to impress with his performance. The leg spinner went wicket-less in the two matches he played, but registered a good economy of 8.50. He was part of all three matches in the Super 8 round, one of which was abandoned due to rain.
Revealing New Zealand’s playing XI, Santner said, “Matty Henry’s made it back in time, which is nice. So he’s obviously in. We’ve got one change from our Colombo game. It’s probably not going to spin as much over as it did over there, so Neesham is back in for Ish (Sodhi)”.
New Zealand playing XI: Tim Seifert (wk), Finn Allen, Rachin Ravindra, Glenn Phillips, Mark Chapman, Daryl Mitchell, James Neesham, Mitchell Santner(c), Cole McConchie, Matt Henry, Lockie Ferguson.
South Africa playing XI: Aiden Markram (C), Quinton de Kock(w), Ryan Rickelton, Dewald Brevis, David Miller, Tristan Stubbs, Marco Jansen, Corbin Bosch, Kagiso Rabada, Keshav Maharaj, Lungi Ngidi.
Why is Ish Sodhi not playing against South Africa?
New Zealand have dropped Ish Sodhi in the semi-final 1 against South Africa. James Neesham replaced Sodhi in the playing 11.
What is the venue of the South Africa vs New Zealand semi-final 1?
The venue of the encounter is Eden Gardens in Kolkata.
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Vikas Singh Derek is a core cricket-lover since childhood and has always followed the sport both in his personal and professional life. He started his school life by watching cricket at home with family. Later, he played cricket on the field at local clubs during college. After his Master's in Journalism from Mumbai, he followed his passion by covering cricket news across various digital media. Since 2015, he has been an aspiring sports journalist and cricket content writer with over 50K+ articles.