The United States Of America (USA) pacer Saurah Netravalkar grabbed the spotlight with his valiant bowling in the team's Super Over win over Pakistan in T20 World Cup match Group A at the Grand Prairie Stadium in Dallas on Thursday, June 6.
The USA pulled off a historic over Pakistan as they defeated the Men in Green in a thrilling Super Over. Chasing a 160-run target, the co-hosts levelled Pakistan's score of 159 in order to take the match into the Super Over, where the winner of the match will be determined. Monank Patel played a captain innings of 50 along with vital contributions from Andries Gous (35) and Aaron Jones (36*) in the run-chase.
The USA opted to bat first and posted a total of 18/1 in an over to set a target of 19 for the Men in Green to chase. Mohammad Amir displayed his sub-par bowling as he conceded seven wides and number of deliveries exceeded 13 in a single over.
Defending a total of 18, the USA managed to do it by restricting Pakistan to 13/1. This was possible because of Saurabh Netravalkar, who remained under pressure and held his nerves to pull off a thrilling win.
Saurabh Netravalkar and the USA recorded one of the biggest upsets in the history of the T20 World Cup.
Who is Saurabh Netravalkar?
Saurabh Netravalkar is an Indian-origin USA cricketer who made great strides in the US circuit over the last few years.
Netravalkar was born and brought up in Mumbai. He obtained his engineering degree from the Sardar Patel Institute of Technology (SPIT) in 2013. Thereafter, the 32-year-old pursued his further studies at Cornell University in the USA.
Saurabh Netravalkar was active in the Indian domestic circuit as he represented Mumbai in the Ranji Trophy and Vijay Hazare Trophy. He was part of the Mumbai team that reached the 2013-14 Ranji Trophy quarterfinals, where they lost to Maharashtra by 8 wickets at the Wankhede Stadium.
Netravalkar represented Mumbai across all age groups and finally made it to the senior's men squad of the 42-time Ranji Trophy champions.
Saurabh Netravalkar's 2010 U19 World Cup appearance and plying his trade in the USA
Saurabh Netravalkar was part of the India team that participated in the 2010 U19 World Cup. India squad included the likes of KL Rahul, Jaydev Unadkat and Mayank Agarwal. All these players made it to the senior Indian team.
India reached the quarterfinals of the 2010 U19 World Cup but got knocked out of the tournament after losing to arch-rivals Pakistan by just two wickets.
Saurabh Netravalkar picked a wicket while conceding just 16 runs in his five-over spell. However, his effort down in vain as the Men in Green pulled off a 115-run chase in 22.3 overs. The match was reduced to 23 over due to rain in the USA's Lincoln.
In the 2010 U19 World Cup, Saurabh Netravalkar was the highest wicket-taker for India as he picked nine wickets at an average of 17.22 with an economy rate of 3.11 in six matches. Despite Netravalkar's efforts throughout the tournament, India failed to get hold of the coveted trophy.
After playing four years in the Indian domestic circuit, the 32-year-old decided to ply his trade in the USA due to a lack of opportunities in India. Despite performing well in the 2010 U19 World Cup and toiling hard in the Indian domestic circuit, Netravalkar failed to get into the Indian team.
In 2018, Saurabh Netravalkar made his debut for the USA against West Indies in the 2017–18 Regional Super50. In February 2019, he was appointed as the captain of the USA.
In June 2022, Netravalkar became the first USA bowler to take a five-wicket in a T20I match, achieving the feat against Zimbabwe in the 2022 ICC Men's T20 World Cup Global Qualifier B.
Saurabh Netravalkar is Oracle Engineer
Apart from being a professional cricketer, Saurabh Netravalkar is also an engineer working at the Oracle in California. As per LinkedIn, Netravalkar joined the computer technology giant as a Member of Technical Staff in 2016.
In 2018, the Indian-origin USA cricketer was promoted to the position of Senior member of Technical staff. Four years later, in 2018, Saurabh Netravalkar became the Principal member of the Technical Staff. He has been working with Oracle for eight years as per his Linkedin profile.
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Before working with Oracle, the Mumbai-born cricketer was employed with Swasth India as a Consulting Software Engineer for two months from June to July 2015. He was also a Graduate Teaching Assistant at the prestigious Cornell University for five months from January to May 2016.
Since cricket is at the nascent stage in the USA, Saurabh Netravalkar balances both cricket and engineering. Coding at the Oracle is a primary job, but his passion remains for cricket as he is looking to make more strides in the USA circuit.
