5 Indian domestic players who switched to the United States

Playing international cricket isn’t as easy as people think it is. You have to be better than the best in order to represent your nation. Due to the heavy competition, not every talented cricketer is lucky enough to play at the highest level.

This forces them to leave their country and settle in another country in the pursuit of playing international cricket. We have seen several individuals who have their roots in one nation but play for another nation. Several domestic cricketers who don’t get a chance to play for their national side decide to do so.

Of late, we have seen USA cricket acquire the services of a lot of cricketers from other parts of the world. This includes the likes of Corey Andersen and Sami Aslam. However, there are several Indian domestic cricketers who have now switched to the States.

In the article, we shall be taking a look at 5 Indian domestic players who switched to the United States:

1) Saurabh Netravalkar

The Mumbai-born Saurabh Netravalkar has even led the USA in a match! Who would have imagined that the former U-19 cricketer from India would go on to establish himself as a USA cricketer? However, before this, he represented India in the U-19 World Cup in 2009.

He was India’s best bowler in that edition as well. He went on to pick 9 wickets with a bowling average and economy of 17.22 and 3.11 respectively. This included the wickets of players like Joe Root, Ahmed Shehzad, and Hasmatullah Shahidi.

Four years later, he played a Ranji Trophy match for Mumbai. Post all of this, he made his debut for the USA in 2019 and played 21 games for them. He then eventually led the country to ODI status in April 2019.

2) Timil Patel

Timil Patel is a right-handed batsman as well as a leg-break bowler. It is shocking that someone as talented as him couldn’t make it big in his own country. He has played seven ODIs and seven T20Is for the USA team so far.

He played with the Indian Ranji team Gujarat from 2002 to 2010. He also played for India Under-19 Team in 2003 that toured England as well. In the 38 first-class games he played, he scored a century and picked two fifers. It was in 2010 when he decided to move to Los Angeles (LA).

The all-rounder was selected to play for the Brampton Wolves in the Global T20 Canada League. However, he withdrew from the tournament after signing a three-month central contract with USA Cricket. He ultimately made his T20I debut for the United States on 15 March 2019.

3) Siddharth Trivedi

Ardent IPL fans would be familiar with this name. Siddharth Trivedi was one of the best bowlers to have played for the Rajasthan Royals (RR). As a matter of fact, he is statistically still one of their most successful bowlers to have played for RR.

The seamer played domestic cricket for Gujarat and Saurashtra and was also a part of 76 IPL matches. Despite having taken 65 IPL wickets, his IPL career went downhill in 2013. This is because the BCCI banned him for one year for not reporting a corrupt approach.

The former RR pacer had revealed that he was at St Louis and is part of the coaching panel of American Cricket Academy and Club (ACAC). “It’s been a month now that I am here (in St Louis). I am part of the coaching staff at ACAC. They have a team (St Louis Americans) in the minor league and they have asked me if I can be part of the team as a player too. I thought why not,” Trivedi told Ahmedabad Mirror last month.

4) Smit Patel

Smit Patel was one of India’s heroes in their successful campaign in the U-19 World Cup back in 2012. He had scored the winning runs for India in the 2012 U-19 World Cup final as well. However, he had revealed a few months ago that he is all set to pursue his dream of playing in America.

The wicketkeeper-batsman was hailed as a future prospect for India. However, Patel’s career never really took off and he never managed to even get an IPL contract. He even told that he has “Officially” retired from all forms of cricket under the BCCI.

The former Indian wicketkeeper will now be seen playing for the Barbados Tridents in the CPL, this August. By this, he aims of fulfilling his dream to play for the United States. Patel must now spend three years in the USA – including at least nine months in a year – to become eligible to qualify for the national team.

5) Sunny Sohal

Sunny Sohal was born in Mohali, Punjab, and made his first-class debut for Punjab in 2005. He even played in the IPL and played for various IPL franchises including Punjab Kings (Then Kings XI Punjab), Deccan Chargers, and Royal Challengers Bangalore. There were huge expectations from the explosive batsman.

He has played 20 IPL games and has scored 368 runs. However, despite playing for so many years and scoring over 1,200 runs in the domestic circuit he never made it big in Indian cricket. This prompted him to move to the USA.

The former Deccan Chargers opener then started playing various leagues in the United States and earned a name for himself over there. He then went on to play the Washington League where he became a regular. He then went on to play three T20Is for the Unites States.