Rajasthan Royals replace injured Zahir Khan with Ish Sodhi

Rajasthan Royals on Tuesday evening roped in Kiwi leg-spinner Ish Sodhi after Afghanistan’s left-arm wristspinner Zahir Khan was ruled out of the tournament due to injury. The leggie, currently the No. 4 T20I bowler, has been acquired at his base price of INR 50 lakh (USD 77,000).

New Delhi: Rajasthan Royals on Tuesday evening roped in Kiwi leg-spinner Ish Sodhi after Afghanistan’s left-arm wristspinner Zahir Khan was ruled out of the tournament due to injury. The leggie, currently the No. 4 T20I bowler, has been acquired at his base price of INR 50 lakh (USD 77,000).

Sodhi was picked from the Registered Available Player Pool (RAPP) list and this will be the first outing for him in the IPL.

The 25-year-old has played 15 Tests, 22 One-Day Internationals (ODIs) and 26 T20I for New Zealand so far. Sodhi recently made news for his heroic lower-order batting that helped New Zealand salvage a thrilling draw against England in Christchurch.

Zahir Khan who has been ruled out of the competition was one among four Afghanistan players, apart from Mohammad Nabi, Mujeeb Ur Rahman and Rashid Khan, bought at the player auction in January.

Zahir, was acquired by Rajasthan Royals for INR 60 lakh, three times more than the set base price. He caught the eye of the franchise during the Under-19 World Cup in New Zealand in January.

Rajasthan Royals were defeated by nine wickets by the Sunrisers Hyderabad in their opening IPL match this season.

The blue army will next face the Delhi Daredevils on April 11 in Jaipur.