 "Saurabh Netravalkar: The Oracle engineer who made Pakistan hop and skip")
Saurabh Netravalkar, a Mumbai-born lad, who moved to the US to pursue Master’s in Computer Engineering orchestrated the first upset in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024 when his new home team defeated Pakistan in a Super Over thriller at the Grand Pirarie Stadium in Texas.
Netravalkar played an important role in restricting Pakistan to 159-7 by taking two wickets and conceding only 18 runs in his four overs. He then successfully defended 18 runs in the Super Over, boosting American hopes for a place in the Super 8 round of the T20 World Cup 2024.
Saurabh Netravalkar early cricketing career
Netravalkar started his cricketing career in the maidans of Mumbai before representing India’s Under-19 team in the 2010 ICC U19 World Cup.
However, the left-arm pacer faced a harsh reality during his domestic career in Mumbai and left for the USA to pursue a Master’s in Computer Engineering.
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In a video that is doing rounds on social media platform X, 32-year-old Netravalkar narrated how he went on to play cricket for the USA.
"I completed my Bachelor’s degree in 2013. I made my debut for Mumbai in 2013 but after giving everything to cricket for two, I realised that my game was not moving to the next level," Saurabh said.
“Since I was good in studies, I chose to move to the USA to pursue a Master's and luckily I got admission to a good college in New York. Never thought I would play cricket again," he said.
"I didn’t even take my cricketing shoes to New York. After completing the Masters, I got a job in San Francisco and played club cricket on the weekends," he added.
The repeat of the Babar vs Netravalkar story
It was in the 2010 Under 19 World Cup that Netravalkar suffered a heartbreak against Pakistan in the quarterfinals. But 14 years down the line, the Indian-American has finally got his revenge.
India were knocked out of the 2010 Under 19 World Cup after a defeat in the quarterfinal against Babar Azam’s Pakistan.
Netravalkar, though, took sweet revenge when he conceded only 13 runs and took a wicket to win the game for USA on June 6.
Saurabh Netravakar stats
| Saurabh Netravalkar Career Stats | ||||||||||||
| Bowling | ||||||||||||
| FORMAT | Mat | Inns | Balls | Runs | Wkts | BBI | BBM | Ave | Econ | SR | 4w | 5w |
| ODIs | 48 | 47 | 2458 | 1626 | 73 | 5/32 | 5/32 | 22.27 | 3.96 | 33.6 | 1 | 2 |
| T20Is | 29 | 29 | 546 | 603 | 29 | 5/12 | 5/12 | 20.79 | 6.62 | 18.8 | 0 | 1 |
| FC | 1 | 2 | 192 | 77 | 3 | 2/42 | 3/77 | 25.66 | 2.4 | 64 | 0 | 0 |
| List A | 80 | 79 | 4163 | 2907 | 117 | 5/32 | 5/32 | 24.84 | 4.18 | 35.5 | 2 | 2 |
| T20s | 29 | 29 | 546 | 603 | 29 | 5/12 | 5/12 | 20.79 | 6.62 | 18.8 | 0 | 1 |
| Batting & Fielding | ||||||||||||
| FORMAT | Mat | Inns | NO | Runs | HS | Ave | BF | SR | 50s | 4s | 6s | Ct |
| ODIs | 48 | 29 | 14 | 139 | 19* | 9.26 | 230 | 60.43 | 0 | 10 | 2 | 15 |
| T20Is | 29 | 7 | 3 | 34 | 12 | 8.5 | 35 | 97.14 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 9 |
| FC | 1 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 1.5 | 24 | 12.5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| List A | 80 | 52 | 22 | 237 | 22 | 7.9 | 393 | 60.3 | 0 | 13 | 5 | 21 |
| T20s | 29 | 7 | 3 | 34 | 12 | 8.5 | 35 | 97.14 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 9 |
| Stats:Espncricinfo | ||||||||||||