Son of an army officer, Ravinder Singh Sodhi was born in Rawalpindi (now in Pakistan) on 25 May 1943. Before joining the National Defence Academy in 1959, he first studied at Lawrence School, Sanawar, and then at the Yadvindra Public School, Patiala. He was among the young polo players from the army who dominated the Indian scene from the 1960s onwards, acquiring a handicap of five goals until the end of his active playing days in 1994. Popularly called “Pickles”, Colonel R S Sodhi had excellent stick work, ball control and anticipation, always rode with soft hands.

Pickles hit the Indian polo scene during his days as a cadet and after being commissioned into the 61 Cavalry, the only horse cavalry regiment in the country in 1962. A first class horseman, who excelled over the years in numerous National Equestrian Championships and in all Equestrian disciplines. He was instructor at both the National Defence Academy and the Indian Military Academy and also qualified as an Equestrian instructor from the Italian Cavalry School, in Rome.

He was an automatic choice to play for India in his active days of polo and represented both his country and his regiment in tournaments at home and abroad. A regular in the annual matches for the Sudan Challenge Cup, played alternatively in England and India against the British army. He was a member of the team that won the open 20 goals, Indian Polo Association, Championship 17 times, Presidents cup 4, and numerous open Northern India Championships, all of 20 goals handicap. Col.Pickles Sodhi was among the highest Handicap polo players in India, rated at 5 goals for 15 years. He often captained the team that won the Indian Open, Polo Association, Championships, at Calcutta, over the years.