As the United States of America recorded a historic victory against Pakistan in the T20 World Cup 2024, their ‘engineer’ pacer Sauarbh Netravalkar became a social media sensation, courtesy of his excellent Super Over performance. Tasked with the responsibility of defending 18 runs in the eliminator, Saurabh only gave away 13 runs, hence helping USA script history with a sensational victory. While the Americans celebrated the USA’s triumph, Indians too were ecstatic for Saurabh, who had played for India’s U19 team in the 2010 World Cup.
In fact, Netravalkar also played for the Mumbai state team in the Ranji Trophy and was once teammates with current India star Suryakumar Yadav. Though Netravalkar’s USA are next up against Suryakumar’s India, the latter kept the rivalry aside and congratulated his good friend on the result against Pakistan.
Netravalkar isn’t just a fine pacer, who finished the match against Pakistan with figures of 2/18 and bowled USA to victory in the super over vs Pakistan. He is a multi-talented person who is primarily an engineer at Oracle and has an MS in Computer Science from Cornell University. Going by the videos that have surfaced on social media, Saurabh is also a damn fine ukulele player.
Saurabh Netravalkar and his India connection:
Netravalkar featured for the India U-19 team in the World Cup in his youth. Fourteen years later, he shattered the dreams of Pakistan fans who hoped for a winning start ahead of their high-voltage clash against arch-rival India.
He was born in Mumbai and impressed in the domestic circuit with a staggering tally of 30 wickets in six games in the Cooch Behar Trophy in 2008-09.
Netravalkar was also the leading wicket-taker in the Under-19 tri-nation tournament in South Africa with eight wickets.
But in a country brimming with potential and talent, Netravalkar faced challenges in finding the opportunities to showcase his talent.
His fairytale story began in the United States, where he got the chance to represent a country that was on the periphery of leaving its mark in the world of cricket.
Working as a Senior Software Engineer at Oracle, Netravalkar juggled through his life as a cricketer and his corporate life.
With ANI Inputs
Topics mentioned in this article
