Reetinder Sodhi

Reetinder Sodhi may not be the most abundantly talented youngster in the land but he makes up for that inadequacy by sporting a zealous, combative and industrious disposition. A hard hitting batsman, no-frills medium pacer and hyperactive fieldsman, he first burst into national recognition in August 1996 with a superb allround display (3 for 34 and 82 not out) as captain to win the Under-15 World Cup final against Pakistan at Lord's. Less than four months later, Sodhi was making his first-class debut against Delhi in the Ranji Trophy at the age of 16 years, 54 days. He was following in the footsteps of father Mahesh Inder Singh who also played in the Ranji Trophy for Punjab. His maiden century arrived the following season when he cracked an unbeaten 200 against Delhi at Patiala.

Sodhi's blooding into international cricket was always on the cards after he was part of a second World Cup winning squad. As vice-captain of the Under-19's in Sri Lanka in January 2000, he was once again Man of the Final. He played four of the five one-dayers against Zimbabwe towards the end of the year, with modest success until the final game when he struck a half century and took his first two wickets. Sodhi held the promise of filling the breach at No.6 in the one- day squad, but a string of low scores led to his ouster.

Sodhi signed with the Ahmedabad Rockets in the inaugural ICL season, but broke ties with the unofficial league in 2009. He was then among the 71 players granted amnesty by the BCCI.
Sankhya Krishnan June 2009