Rajasthan Royals have brought in New Zealander Ish Sodhi as a spin consultant ahead of the new Indian Premier League season.
Sodhi, 27, has previously represented RR on the field but was released before the IPL Auction 2020.
He now returns to take up a new role at the franchise that will see him working closely with both spin bowling coach Sairaj Bahutule and chief operations officer Jake Lush McCrum.
Latest IPL 2020 Odds
| IPL Team | Winner Odds |
| Mumbai Indians | 5.0 |
| Hyderabad Sunrisers | 5.5 |
| Chennai Super Kings | 5.5 |
| Delhi Captials | 7.0 |
| Kolkata Knight Riders | 8.0 |
| Royal Challengers Bangalore | 8.0 |
| Rajasthan Royals | 10.0 |
| Kings XI Punjab | 11.0 |
Sodhi played for the franchise in the 2018 and 2019 seasons and comes in to try and boost their chances in the coming campaign.
He said: “I am delighted to be taking on this new challenge at Rajasthan Royals with this dual role.
“Having played for two seasons for the Royals, I have formed a great level of understanding with all the people involved with the franchise, and they have always been very supportive of me.
“Therefore, I did not have to think twice when this opportunity was offered to me by the Royals’ management. I love this franchise and want to help us win the IPL this year.”
Welcoming Sodhi in his new role at the franchise, head of cricket Zubin Bharucha said: “We are very happy to welcome back Ish to the Royals family in his new role.
“The induction of Ish in this dual role demonstrates the Royals’ commitment to recognise and reward young talent to develop into masters in their field of work. I congratulate Ish on his new stint and wish every cricket fan across the globe gets behind the team when Rajasthan Royals kicks off its new season this summer.”
Rajasthan Royals 2020 Squad
| Mahipal Lomror | Manan Vohra |
| Riyan Parag | Steve Smith |
| Tom Curran | Ankit Rajpoot |
| Andrew Tye | Jofra Archer |
| Oshane Thomas | Shreyas Gopal |
| Anirudh Joshi | Varun Aaron |
| Akash Singh | Ben Stokes |
| David Miller | Rahul Tewatia |
| Karthik Tyagi | Shashank Singh |
| Anuj Rawat | Jos Buttler |
| Yashasvi Jaiswal | Sanju Samson |
| Jaydev Unadkat | Robin Uthappa |
Sodhi has previously represented RR in eight IPL matches and managed to take nine wickets at an economy rate of 6.69.
He has also taken 47 wickets in 40 T20 Internationals for New Zealand and will be looking to use his international and IPL experience to assist the Rajasthan spin attack.
Sodhi also has experience of playing in 17 Tests and 31 ODIs for the Black Caps.
McCrum also welcomed Sodhi to the team, adding: “We are delighted to have Ish on board as our spin consultant and operations executive. He is one of the most positive and motivational people I have ever met, has incredible knowledge of spin bowling and already has a really strong relationship with Shreyas and Riyan.
“While Ish will add a lot of value in the development of the now large spin bowling department, we also want to develop him in an operational role within the franchise. This will be of great support to us, in addition to strengthening Ish's overall management skillset.”
Where have the Rajasthan Royals finished in each IPL season?
| Year | Position |
| 2008 | 1st |
| 2009 | 6th |
| 2010 | 7th |
| 2011 | 6th |
| 2012 | 7th |
| 2013 | 3rd |
| 2014 | 5th |
| 2015 | 4th |
| 2018 | 4th |
| 2019 | 7th |
