Saurabh Netravalkar reveals attending bowling sessions during office lunch breaks to balance corporate life and international cricket [Exclusive]

Saurabh Netravalkar reveals attending bowling sessions during office lunch breaks to balance corporate life and international cricket [Exclusive]

USA’s Saurabh Netravalkar’s career is one of the most inspiring journeys, not just because of the cricketing performances, but because of the life he has balanced alongside the game. The left-arm fast bowler from Mumbai grabbed attention with 30 wickets in the 2008-09 Cooch Behar Trophy and finished as India’s highest wicket-taker at the 2010 Under-19 World Cup in New Zealand. Yet, breaking into Mumbai’s senior team was far-fetched, with stalwarts like Zaheer Khan and Ajit Agarkar still actively playing.

While his cricketing opportunities remained limited, Netravalkar never stopped investing in himself academically. He completed his bachelor’s degree in computer engineering and, in 2015, made a life-changing decision to move to the United States after receiving an offer from Cornell University for a master’s degree.

However, his cricket was reduced to weekend games and recreational leagues, but in 2018, he made his List A debut for the USA, gradually becoming a main player and captain of the team. His best was seen at the T20 World Cup 2024, where he defended runs in a Super Over against Pakistan to script one of the tournament’s most memorable upsets.

Employed as a software engineer, he has revealed how he often attends bowling sessions during office lunch breaks, squeezing in practice between meetings and deadlines.

Excerpts

You started as a standout in the India U-19 World Cup before becoming a USA cricket star. How do you reflect on that journey from Mumbai to the world stage?

So, grew up in the streets of Mumbai playing gully cricket in a cricket-crazy community. Watched my dad play. He used to play for his college and he’s really passionate about the game. So, I picked it up from my apartment. I used to play in the building. At the age of 10, got picked for Vengsarkar Cricket Academy under-13 trials. And that’s when sort of started training with the season ball like proper. And then gradually advanced the ranks, played under 15 for Mumbai, under 17, under 19. And did well in the interstate tournaments. Did National Cricket Academy in Bangalore and gradually made my way to the India U-19 team. I think that was a massive achievement, I thought. Because as a kid, used to always watch all the cricket in the 90s, early 2000s. Was a big fanboy. Used to try to copy everybody’s bowling actions and that’s how I grew up. And it was a great feeling to wear the sky blue jersey. At that time, it was the sky blue jersey of the India U-19 team. And yeah, special feeling, a great achievement. From then on, in parallel, I was also very passionate about studies and education. When I played under 19, that was also the first year of engineering. I had also joined an engineering college. I was doing my computer engineering. Pursued that alongside cricket for four years. From the cricket front, I wasn’t making it that big. After under 19, in the next step, I didn’t get a chance for four years to establish myself in the senior Mumbai team. I was in and out of the side. In 2013, I made my debut for Mumbai, the senior side Ranji Trophy. Played for two years in and out of the side. Again, I couldn’t establish myself and wasn’t getting a breakthrough in IPL as well. At that time, I had to take a big call where I decided to focus on education. It was a very emotional decision, but I thought it was the practical one at that time. Because I didn’t see myself playing for India. I didn’t think I was good enough. Then I moved to the US for education. I think a new journey started, a new life started. I didn’t even expect to play cricket. The first year was fully focused on my university. I wanted to study. Gradually, I got a job in California. Moved there. That’s when I started playing weekend-to-weekend club cricket. Met people, got to know of small tournaments. Started travelling to the US. Slowly, slowly made a name for myself and got into the team. The team was also very low-ranked at that time. We built the team, and got better every year. Won Division 3, Division 2, and got ODI status. Finally, we were at the World Cup. That’s a very brief way of summarising the journey.

Not many international cricketers clock in at a corporate job. What does a typical week look like for you, and where does the toughest balance life?

When I’m at home, usually, mornings I wake up early. I have one hour and a half of yoga practise that I do in the morning. Then I get to work after breakfast. Right now, I work from home. I used to go to office first. We have a fitness programme given by our national team trainer. So, that’s usually three days a week I have to go to gym. Alternate days. Office has a world-class gym, actually. And I live pretty close to work. So, I go to the gym in the evening after work for around two hours. Alternate days, I have running sessions. There’s a public park and a running track. Again, close to office, close to my house. I do that twice a week or thrice a week. During lunch breaks, I will take extra time. So, I will go for two hours for lunch. And that time, I’ll actually bowl and bat and practise. We have an indoor facility around 40 minutes from my house. So, that’s how I manage both.

Looking back at your World Cup journey with Team USA, what match do you feel defined your career most?

Specifically in the World Cup or throughout? Throughout your journey. World Cup journey. Throughout the World Cup journey? Last World Cup? Yeah. Last World Cup defining moment would definitely be the Pakistan game. The first game was Canada game, which was a defining moment for us as a team because we chased a high total, 188 or 190. And that gave us the confidence leading into the Pakistan game. Pre-World Cup, we had actually played a bilateral series with Bangladesh. And we had beat them 2-1. So, we had some confidence that if we play well or if we execute our plans, we can give a good fight. But frankly speaking, we didn’t expect that we’ll win. So, that was a very good moment. And the opportunity that I got in the game, I got two wickets and then got the opportunity to bowl the Super Over. And yeah, it turned out nice for me personally.

Your spell of 2/18 and Super Over heroics against Pakistan were unforgettable; did you anticipate such a moment when you started playing for the USA?

When I started playing, just playing cricket itself was a blessing for me because I left, I gave up on the sport and I moved to USA only for education. I actually didn’t expect to play international. I never even thought. And especially World Cup, I never even thought that I’ll get a chance to play. But it’s been a big journey. Lots of miracles, I’ll say, that happened in my life. And I’m really grateful for that.

How did it feel dismissing top international players like Rizwan or bowling in high-pressure World Cup overs?

During the World Cup, it was definitely special. But we had two seasons of Major League Cricket, which is the franchise league that happens in US, which also has top players around the world. Most IPL franchises are the team owners. And we got a good exposure for two consecutive years to play alongside top players. So we had a flavour or a little bit of exposure to high-pressure environment and bowling against top quality. And it was the same ground that we play Major League on. So that also helped that it was home ground in Dallas where I had played almost two seasons of Major League. So in that sense, I was kind of in my comfort zone. I knew what to do, I knew what to bowl, what works on that pitch. So that helped.

Can you share the emotions from the World Cup dressing room after the historic win over Pakistan?

Yeah, we were really elated. A lot of all the teammates have gone. They have unique stories like mine. Everybody has gone through different struggles. They are working different jobs and then somehow they manage their cricket. So from that stage to becoming fully professional and getting an opportunity to play with the top teams, that itself is a big achievement. And then actually executing our plans and we making the top 8 of the World Cup. Yeah, it was a really big achievement. Not just for players but for our families and all the supporters in USA who supported us.

What does qualification for the next T20 World Cup 2026 and playing the first match against a big team like India?

First of all, for me personally, because it’s in India, which is where I grew up playing and especially the matches in Mumbai, which is where I have trained all my life. It’s going to be very emotional for me definitely. From a cricket perspective, it’s going to be more challenging, like I said, because the pitches will be more friendly to batting and we’ll have less margin for error. So we’ll have to get better. We’ll have to execute our skills in a better way. So more challenges, but we’ll give our best.

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