USA pacer Saurabh Netravalkar recalls India Under-15 days with Suryakumar Yadav ahead of T20 World Cup clash

Saurabh Netravalkar’s story is one for the ages as the cricketer who represented India at the Under-15 level found his place in the United States of America team. A full-time engineer at a software company in the USA has found his happy place in cricket. He announced himself to the world with a match-winning spell against Pakistan as the USA created history on June 6. Saurabh expressed his excitement as he is braced to take on his former team on June 12. 

India will take on the USA on Wednesday in the T20 World Cup 2024 group-stage game. Saurabh, who has played his Under-15 cricket alongside the likes of Suryakumar Yadav, will be fighting against each other. He also lauded Suryakumar’s prowess and recalled the intent of the batter since the early days he played with him. Indeed, the World Cup is a bigger stage and it cannot get better for Saurabh to create a lasting impression against a team like India.

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"Few other people like Surya and all whom I have grown up with, played U-15 with them. It would be nice to see them and share a stage to perform. Looking forward to it, just excited, can't express my feelings. Since Under-15 days we knew this guy is something. He used to smash everybody. In group cricket as well he used to hit big hundreds. We knew he would do something special. Really happy for him, the way he has come up and set the stage on fire," Saurabh Netravalkar said as quoted by India Today.

I have bowled to Rohit Sharma in Mumbai nets: Saurabh

Before forging his future with the USA team, Saurabh has revealed that he has practiced with India captain Rohit Sharma in the nets. He added that as the Mumbai Indians team was practicing, he had bowled to Rohit and termed him as an inspirational figure. Talking about the pacer's recent exploits, he defended 19 overs in the Super Over against Pakistan and conceded just 13 runs with a wicket to take USA home.

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"Once (playing against Kohli) but I have bowled to Rohit Sharma in Mumbai nets. They are inspirational people. The journeys have also been inspirational," he added.