Exclusive: How Saurabh Netravalkar got 4 KTs in 1st Semester Engineering Exams due to U-19 World Cup clash

Saurabh Netravalkar rose to fame after his impactful performance in the T20 World Cup 2024 for the United States of America. He was instrumental in USA’s historic win over Pakistan as he delivered the crucial Super Over. Since then, the Indian-born cricketer has not turned back and he continues his dual profession of being a cricketer and a software engineer amicably.

In an exclusive conversation with CricTracker, he recalled his hustle while managing studies and cricket became an inevitable aspect of his life. For the unversed, the 32-year-old works as a software engineer at Oracle in the USA and has also represented India at the Under-19 level before migrating to the Big Apple. He revealed that though the exams clashed with his tournaments, moments like taking 10 exams in a row and being handed four KTs (Allowed To Keep Terms) in the first semester of engineering.

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“My first-semester engineering exam clashed with the Under-19 World Cup. I got picked for the U19 World Cup for the Indian team in 2010 and I had to miss four of my six exams in the first semester. And I got a KT. The next semester I gave like 10 exams in a row and there was no tournament. So, it was both, a mix of me willing to work harder and try to sacrifice a little bit of other things. But I used to love these two things. I was ready to do whatever it takes to pursue cricket and education,” he said. 

Netravalkar has played 48 ODIs and picked 73 wickets at an average of 22.27. He has done so with an impressive economy rate of 3.96 and a strike rate of 33.6. Speaking of his T20I stats, in 33 T20Is, the pacer has plucked as many wickets at an average of 21.03 and an economy rate of 6.68.