Netravalkar all set for a special homecoming

The most beautiful thing about a World Cup is that it provides you the platform to become an instant star.

- Sanjjeev K Samyal

Saurabh Netravalkar. GETTY

When you pick the wickets of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma cheaply in your country’s first international game against India, recognition is guaranteed.It becomes all the more special if the bowler had grown up in the same country as these superstars. That is what Saurabh Netravalkar enjoyed at the 2024 20 World Cup playing for his adopted country, USA, after his 2/18 in a league game against India.

At that moment, it looked like there wouldn't be anything better in his cricket career. A software engineer from Mumbai who had opted for an engineering career over playing cricket despite having finished the highest wicket-taker for India at the 2010 ICC U19 World Cup, it seemed the end of Netravalkar’s career when he took the flight to the USA in 2015. He had played Ranji Trophy for Mumbai where India T20 captain Surya-kumar Yadav was a teammate, but intense competition meant opportunities were limited.