When Saurabh Netravalkar was a teenager playing cricket in Mumbai in the mid-2000s, his desire was to represent his country, Pakistan, in a World Cup match. After representing India in the 2010 U-19 World Cup, he may have given up on that dream in 2015 when he relocated to Cornell University to seek a master’s degree in computer science. But after all these years, under very different conditions, a mix of fate and hard work has enabled the left-arm pacer to achieve that goal.
Netravalkar, 32, who was playing for the United States, was the star of the show on Thursday when he effectively bowled Pakistan’s newcomers to victory by holding them to 18 runs in the Super Over following a tie game.
For a cricket player such as Netravalkar, the financial benefits of the game are secondary. He works for Oracle as a well compensated software engineer. He gets his adrenaline fix from competing against the finest in the world at his skill level. Thursday was a memorable day for him as a professional player because it demonstrated his skill and sense of play in front of a global audience and his status at the top.
He has undoubtedly realized his dream. You see how fate works out: because the USA is the host nation, they are the only ones who can compete in the T20 World Cup; otherwise, they would not have the opportunity to qualify for the competition. After he had left Mumbai and arrived, the seven-year stay allowed under the ICC rule was lowered to three years. He continued to reap the benefits. His father Naresh stated on Friday that his son “automatically kept getting whatever was in his destiny.”
Having collected 2/18 in four overs to help US reduce Pakistan to 159/7, Netravalkar’s nerves of steel came to the fore in the Super Over, keeping the big hitters at bay against Iftikhar Ahmed and Shadab Khan.
His father was nervous to watch the Super Over on TV. “In the Super Over, anything can happen, but he bowled smartly and with composure,” Naresh added.
The former Mumbai bowler’s 4-0-18-2 contribution featured the wickets of Ahmed with a dipping slow full-toss and Mohammad Rizwan with an away swinger, all while his mother and wife watched from Grand Prairie Stadium in Dallas.
Netravalkar was once one of the best young cricket players in India. He was his team’s top wicket-taker at the 2010 U-19 World Cup in New Zealand, where England was represented by players like Ben Stokes and Joe Root. However, he was also an exceptional student who managed to succeed in both academics and cricket.
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With Zaheer Khan, Dhawal Kulkarni, Ajit Agarkar, and Avishkar Salvi leading Mumbai’s potent pace attack at the time, Netravalkar found it challenging to make a name for himself in the senior team. He had to decide whether to pursue higher education or wait for his opportunities in first-class cricket.
Choosing to play professional cricket was never an easy choice for the left-arm bowler. Being a talented computer science student from Mumbai’s Sardar Patel Institute of Technology, one of the nation’s most prestigious engineering schools, there is always the allure of landing a fulfilling career abroad.
At the age of 23, the left-arm bowler made the difficult choice to give up cricket and pursue further education in the United States, abandoning his aspirations to play cricket in India. It happened two years after he made his Mumbai team’s Ranji Trophy debut in 2013 against a Karnataka squad that featured KL Rahul, his India U-19 teammate.
While Rahul, Mayank Agarwal, and Jaydev Unadkat, the other players from the 2010 U-19 World Cup, plotted their course for an IPL contract and the senior India cap, Netravalkar made the decision to enroll at Cornell University.
A few months prior, Netravalkar had told HT, “It was a very emotional decision for me to sort of leave cricket behind and come to the USA to pursue higher education.”
He was unable to completely give up his passion for the game, though. As a result, the software engineer managed to get back into the game and eventually became the captain of the US national team. “I am grateful to destiny that it gave me a second chance to pursue cricket again here and very lucky to balance it with my full-time job as a software engineer,” Netravalkar said.
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Playing for the Washington Freedom in the Major League Cricket T20 competition the previous season, the Mumbaikar took six wickets for only nine runs against the San Francisco Unicorns.
Netravalkar is benefiting from the Mumbai hard yards. “Undoubtedly (the experience gives me the advantage), I experienced strong competition even in my U-19 days. I recall participating in the BCCI Corporate Trophy in 2009; Yuvraj Singh captained the Air India team.
Among them was Suresh Raina, an Indian player. I performed well in that competition, which helped me be selected for the India Under-19 squad. It was too long ago, but I knew I could succeed if I put in a lot of effort. Then, I was also helped by the Mumbai mentality, which is to never give up and to fight until the very finish.
In contrast to Indian professional cricket players who can devote their entire attention to their sport, Netravalkar must balance his work at San Francisco. He is doing a good job of juggling both. Since I work as a software developer, I must code a lot. One advantage of this career is that the timings are flexible. Netravalkar, who also likes to play the ukulele, added, “I can work at my own time.”
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