Saurabh Netravalkar, an Indian origin cricketer has emerged as remarkable figure in international cricket, playing for the USA cricket team. Taking the cricketing world by storm, Netravalkar seems to have fulfilled the American dream, working also as a coder in a company at USA.
Saurabh Netravalkar’s Journey to USA
Once a part of the Mumbai cricket team, Saurabh moved to USA in 2015, seeking higher opportunities while working as software engineer, “Cricket was over for me. I had no hope or expectation left to play again,” he recalls.
In 2015, he got an offer for admission from Cornell University in New York for a master’s degree and moved there.
During the day this exceptional fast bowler, works for a tech giant Oracle. And if he is not doing coding or playing cricket, Saurabh enjoys singing over Ukulele.
His sister Nidhi in conversation with News 18 talked about the player’s balance between cricket and coding,
“He’s been very fortunate to have people who have always supported him throughout his career. He knows that when he’s not playing cricket, he has to give 100 per cent to the job. So right now, when he’s working, he carries his laptop everywhere. And he has the freedom to work from anywhere.”
After almost a decade, he faced India in a T20 World Cup match at the Nassau County International Cricket Stadium in New York. This was an emotional moment for the cricketer as he told BBC,
“Many of my former teammates are now playing for India”. The cricketer has also once been part of India’s Under-19 team.
How He Made His Mark In USA Cricket Team?
In USA, Saurabh began playing recreational cricket on the weekends and in 2018 made his List A debut for USA.
Mumbai-born and bred Netravalkar came to the limelight, after he strategized the Super-Over victory for United States of America against Pakistan in their ICC Men’s T20 World Cup group stage match in Dallas on June 7.
In a match against India, dismissing Virat Kohli for a golden duck and then the Captain Rohit Sharma in a pivotal match on June 12 further added to his growing stature.
In India, meme are shared for his exemplary journey as a successful coder and cricketer at the same time.
With USA now through to the Super 8, Saurabh Netravalkar will have at least three more games to showcase his talents to the world.
Tabinda Mir is a writer from Kashmir. She is an English Honours graduate and her interests primarily dwell in poetry and sports writing. She likes to cover Cricket as an avid fan. Apart from sports, her other publications include articles, poems and a letter to summer in the book titled, “Under The Summer Skies”.
Also, her leisure time activities include reading novels, poetry, non literary works, philosophies and writing poetry, short stories, articles on diverse themes.
