IPL 2021: Rajasthan Royals Sign Ish Sodhi As Liaison Officer

New Zealand leg-spinner Ish Sodhi is all set to feature in a managerial role in the upcoming edition of the Indian Premier League.

After going unsold in the recently-concluded IPL auction, Ish Sodhi has now been signed by his former franchise Rajasthan Royals as the team liaison officer.

Sodhi will work alongside team-director Kumar Sangakkara and chief-operating officer Jake Lush McCrum, thereby contributing ‘both towards cricket and operations’ vertical.

“The Royals are an innovative, dynamic franchise that plays an entertaining brand of cricket, and I am delighted to rejoin my IPL family to work across the board,” Ish Sodhi said in a statement.

This is a very different role as opposed to the one that Ish Sodhi was supposed to play in IPL 2020. After going unsold in the 2019 auction, Sodhi was signed up as a spin consultant ahead of the 2020 season.

However, with the change in schedule from April-May to September-November due to Covid-19 clashing with New Zealand’s domestic season and the birth of his first child, he had to back out from the role.

“Last year I expressed my interest in exploring the management side of the franchise, and the Royals management team was very supportive, offering me a role to enable me to begin my off-field journey,” he said. “I’m looking forward to supporting the coaches and the business operations of the team through which I’ll really develop my cricketing and management skills,” he added.

Sodhi, who represented Rajasthan Royals in IPL 2018 and 2019, continues to be a crucial part of New Zealand’s limited-overs cricket plans and is currently a part of the squad that is locking horns with Australia in a five-match T20I series on home soil.

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