Good Fortune For Saurabh Netravalkar: Born In India, Playing For USA

As an ambitious Saurabh Netravalkar, who did the star turn (2 for 18 in four overs) for the USA against Pakistan in the ICC Men’s World Twenty20 in Dallas, did the hard yards in the maidans located in Suketu Mehta’s Maximum City; until a point in time in his fledgling career that did not take off! Subsequently, the left-arm fast bowler found his moorings with an Ivy League label at Cornell in New York in the USA.  As a tyro, he had big scalps like KL Rahul, Mayank Agarwal, and Parthiv Patel in India’s domestic cricket. He played for India under-19 in the ICC World Cup, but the temptation to be part of the Ivy League was too overwhelming. As luck would have it, the game of cricket, which the Americans would wonder what it is all about, has put him on centre stage some 10 years after relocating to the USA. The speedster played his part in the World Twenty20 qualifier in Bulawayo in July 2022, but the USA did not advance to the main event in Australia. Two years later, USA was a co-host, and with it came the automatic entry for the main show. He has now taken 102 wickets for the USA in ODI (73) and Twenty20 (29) internationals – the first USA cricketer to go past the 100-wicket mark — and walked into serendipity. After a lovely spell against Pakistan, comes the intriguing test against India’s Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli on June 12.