How Saurabh Netravalkar Developed the Greatest Script in US History: From Computers to Cricket

When Saurabh Netravalkar faced Pakistan in the quarterfinal of the Under-19 World Cup in Christchurch in 2010, he suffered heartbreak. It was obvious how that day, in a rain-affected thriller, Pakistan defeated India by two wickets while Babar Azam was in the opposition’s camp.

Fourteen years later, he got the chance to win a T20 World Cup match against Pakistan for his new nation, the USA. Netravalkar, who was given the task of bowling the Super Over, successfully defended 18 as the USA recorded a win remarkable to their history that increased their chances of qualifying for the Super Eights. 

If they succeed—they have two more matches remaining against Ireland and India—Netravalkar might need to extend his officially scheduled leave from his day job, which expires on June 17, by at least a few weeks. He probably won’t have to justify it to his American coworkers at all.

To add to the legend surrounding this nerdy Indian who traveled to the USA to seek a Master’s degree in computer engineering, all he needs to do is point them toward one of the numerous Instagram reels that have already surfaced. 

Saurabh Netravalkar Aspiration in Cricket: How He Navigated in History

For a very long time, Netravalkar, 32, had aspirations of playing for India. While on Air India’s sports scholarship, he was a bristling left-arm fast who rocked Yuvraj Singh’s stumps at the NCA in Bengaluru back in 2009. The next thing he knew, he was going to play in the then-prestigious BCCI Corporate Trophy because of his delivery.

All three of the Indian stars at the time—Yuvraj, Suresh Raina, and Robin Uthappa—shared a changing room with him. Among the opponents’ group were MS Dhoni and a certain Virat Kohli. At the time, Netravalkar was not yet eighteen. He concluded the competition tied for most wickets taken, and he boarded the Indian team for the Under-19 World Cup along with players like KL Rahul, Mayank Agarwal, Jaydev Unadkat, Mandeep Singh, and Harshal Patel.

Due to his participation in the competition, he was unable to complete the first semester tests for the six months he had enrolled in to earn his degree in computer engineering. In all his cricketing career, that was the first major decision he had to make.

Netravalkar had anticipated that his World Cup exploits, where he led India in wicket-taking, would open doors for an IPL contract as well as a spot in the senior Mumbai team. Mumbai had few and far between possibilities; Ajit Agarkar, Zaheer Khan, Aavishkar Salvi, and an inexperienced Dhawal Kulkarni made it hard for the kid to get in.

In 2013, Netravalkar finally made his debut for the Ranji Trophy. Only a few months prior, incidentally, he had just made another difficult decision. He had quit his work as a software testing engineer in Pune to spend the next two years focusing solely on cricket. 

However, the fact that he was still coming and going from the setup even after two years forced him to call again in August 2015, when he received an admissions offer from Cornell University in New York. He had won a scholarship thanks to his excellent academic record and his passion for cricket, which inspired him to create the player-analysis app CricDecode.

After completing his graduate studies, Netravalkar received an offer from Oracle in San Francisco. Netravalkar started playing recreational cricket on the weekends in an attempt to “fit in with the Indian community” after moving to the nation without his cricket equipment. 

2016 saw him compete at the USACA National Championship on behalf of the North West Region. When the International Cricket Council (ICC) reduced the required length of residency for eligibility from four years to three, he stepped up his efforts and looked for as many opportunities to play as possible.

Then-coach Pubudu Dassanayake was impressed by the Southern California Cricket Association XI’s outstanding performance against the USA XI during a national team warm-up match in the summer of 2017. He made his List A debut for the USA against Leeward Islands in January 2018, going 2 for 45. It seemed as though life had completed a circle.

Netravalkar is one of the few players from the USA national team that plays regularly in Major League Cricket these days. He took three wickets in the inaugural season of the Washington Freedom last year, including a breathtaking six-for-nine against the San Francisco Unicorns, who included players like Shadab Khan, Matthew Wade, and Marcus Stoinis. Soon after, on Thursday, in the Super Over final ball that decided the USA’s victory, he would bowl to Shadab once more.

Netravalkar will play against his elder brother in Mumbai cricket, Rohit Sharma, next week. He will also rekindle his rivalry with Kohli, with whom he once sparred. He would no longer have to convince anyone of the value of playing cricket. To prove it, he would have films of himself bowling to elite cricket players.