Reetinder Sodhiਰੀਤਿੰਦਰ ਸੋਢੀ

Reetinder Sodhi (born 18 October 1980 in Patiala) is a former Indian cricketer from Punjab who played 18 one-day internationals for India between 2000 and 2002. A right-handed batsman and right-arm medium-fast bowler, he is best remembered for two youth World Cup finals: he captained India to the Under-15 title in 1996 and, as vice-captain, struck the winning runs in the 2000 Under-19 World Cup final. A back injury cut short his rise, and after a long domestic career with Punjab he became a match referee in first-class cricket.

Early life and a teenage prodigy

Sodhi was born in Patiala, the royal city of the Malwa region, and came up through Punjab's age-group cricket. He was still only 15 when he captained India at the Lombard Under-15 Challenge Cup at Lord's in 1996, a tournament often described as the Under-15 World Cup. In the final against Pakistan he took three wickets for 34 runs and then scored an unbeaten 82, carrying India to the title. He finished as the player of the tournament, with 236 runs at an average of 59 and 16 wickets at 12.43, the most wickets in the tournament.

Four months after that final he made his first-class debut for Punjab at the age of 16. In 2000 he was picked for the first intake of the National Cricket Academy in Bangalore, alongside Mohammad Kaif, Harbhajan Singh and other young players the selectors saw as India's next generation.

What happened in the 2000 Under-19 World Cup final?

India went to Sri Lanka in January 2000 chasing a first Under-19 World Cup title, with Mohammad Kaif as captain and Sodhi as his deputy. In the final at the Sinhalese Sports Club in Colombo on 28 January, Sri Lanka batted first and were bowled out for 178. Sodhi bowled a tight ten overs for 26 runs without taking a wicket, then came to the crease with the chase in the balance.

He finished unbeaten on 39 from 43 balls, seeing India home by six wickets. Yuvraj Singh was named player of the tournament, and Sodhi was named player of the match in the final, just as he had been in the Under-15 final four years earlier. It was India's first Under-19 World Cup title, and for a few months Sodhi looked like the all-rounder the senior team had been looking for.

India career: 18 ODIs in two years

Sodhi made his one-day international debut against Zimbabwe at Cuttack on 2 December 2000, scoring 9 and bowling eight overs for 31 without a wicket in a three-wicket India win. The selectors gave him a run through 2001, and he travelled with the side to Zimbabwe, Sri Lanka and South Africa, but a regular place never quite came.

His best day in India colours came in the Coca-Cola Cup final at Harare in 2001, when he scored 67 from 75 balls and took two wickets for 31 runs. India still lost the match by 16 runs, with Sameer Dighe's unbeaten 94 not quite enough. Across his ODI career Sodhi scored 280 runs at an average of 25.45, with two fifties and a top score of 67, and took five wickets at 73.00, with best figures of two for 31 and an economy rate of 4.74.

A back injury picked up in the nets during the Challenger Series in 2002 proved the turning point. His last ODI came against West Indies at Jodhpur on 21 November 2002, when he made just one run before being caught behind off Corey Collymore. India won by three wickets, just as they had on his debut, but Sodhi never played for India again. He never played Test cricket.

Punjab, the ICL and the IPL

Sodhi kept playing domestic cricket for Punjab, finishing with 70 first-class matches, 3,699 runs at an average of 38.53 with six centuries and a top score of 251, and 104 wickets at 29.21. In List A cricket he scored 2,923 runs at 45.67 in 109 matches. His last first-class match came in 2007.

Like several players of his generation, he then joined the Indian Cricket League, playing for the Ahmedabad Rockets in 2007 and in the 2008-09 season. He was signed by Kings XI Punjab for the 2010 Indian Premier League season but played only three matches. His final match was a Twenty20 game in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy in 2010, for Punjab against Jammu and Kashmir.

Life after playing and legacy

After retiring, Sodhi moved to the other side of the game and became a match referee in first-class cricket. He has also worked as a cricket expert, offering views on selection and the game he once played at the highest level.

Sodhi's story is one of early promise that peaked young. He was talked of as a possible successor to Kapil Dev as India's seam-bowling all-rounder, and he delivered on the biggest youth stages, winning two World Cup finals as a match-winner. The senior career that seemed certain after Colombo never arrived, partly through injury and partly because his medium pace and lower-order batting never quite settled into a fixed role. What remains is a record few Punjab cricketers can match: a captain at 15, a World Cup winner at 19, and an India cricketer at 20.