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Sodhi urges his team’s batsmen to fight back

The 22-year-old, who is into his ninth Test, said that they had prepared well despite a break of three months from Test cricket.

Abu Dhabi: With a defeat in the first Test staring at New Zealand, leg spinner Ish Sodhi said that the batsmen will have to grind it out in the remaining two Tests in Dubai and Sharjah.

The rusty Black Caps have been exposed over the four days by a spirited Pakistan side who have not given an inch.

“I think our batsmen just have to apply themselves better and bat for long periods of time. If you can get through the tough phases, you can sort of decide later what you want to do with the Test match. We have done that in the past against quality spinners of Sri Lanka and the West Indies, so I am sure we can do the same against Pakistan,” Sodhi after the fourth day’s play.

The 22-year-old, who is into his ninth Test, said that they had prepared well despite a break of three months from Test cricket. He took heart from the fact that there are still two more Tests left to play and felt that the Kiwis will come back strongly.

“We had prepared well but these conditions were completely foreign for us. Pakistan obviously played very well and they did not lose any wicket to our seam bowlers. It’s just the first Test out of three and we will have to make sure we come back hard in the next two,” said Sodhi.

Craig and he put up a resistance and ensured the Kiwis didn’t fold up in four days. Sodhi said it was tough out there but they managed to hang on. “They bowled very well. It was a different kind of intimidation than 150kmph at your end. But the pressure was there all the same. It was pretty tough out there,” Sodhi said.

He said that the team was hurting from such a meek display over these four days but added that they will try and make things difficult for Pakistan on the morrow.

“We are disappointed with the way things have turned out. We cannot win from this position, but we will surely try and make things difficult for them tomorrow (Thursday),” said Sodhi, who was born in Ludhiana.

james@khaleejtimes.com