Naresh Netravalkar and his daughter Nidhi are busy these days. Answering congratulatory phone calls, replying to text messages and social media DMs, and attending the national media are now part of their daily routine. People all across the country have started recognising them as Saurabh Netravalkar’s family, not just in Mumbai.
Saurabh, the left-arm fast bowler from India, recently outsmarted Pakistan on the cricket field in the USA jersey. It was the second Super Over in the ongoing T20 World Cup 2024, and he defended 19 runs. He thrived under pressure, helping the associate cricket team humiliate the 2009 World Champions.
While Saurabh became a sensation in the States, his family in Mumbai attended guests with sweets in the middle of the night. It was a different vibe—the beginning of their new daily routine.
Saurabh’s cricketing journey began as a failed experiment. His mother, impressed by an advertisement featuring the legendary Sunil Gavaskar, sent her son to play cricket. The idea was to make him realise what level the game is actually played at so that he would back off himself. But the opposite happened.
“Our parents thought he’d understand that he wouldn’t be selected. But he made it. And then it became like a thing for my parents only to take him from Malad to Churchgate every day for coaching," Nidhi, Saurabh’s younger sister, told CricketNext in an exclusive conversation.
“They did it with a lot of passion, like for six to seven years. He used to go to Churchgate after school, travel for one hour on the train and do all his homework and everything on the train. So, from the beginning, he has managed both his studies and his cricket, and that’s how his journey began," she added.
A Last Chance to Cricket
Saurabh’s cricketing talent took him places. In 2010, he represented India in the Under-19 World Cup and shared the dressing room with KL Rahul, Mayank Agarwal, Jaydev Unadkat, Harshal Patel and Sandeep Sharma. But his passion for computer science also pushed him to pursue engineering at Mumbai’s Sardar Patel Institute of Technology (SPIT).
Before accepting the life of a coder, he gave cricket a chance and even made his domestic debut. But after trying his best for two straight years, he parted ways with the game and flew to the West, where he became a Software engineer.
“In those two years, he made his Ranji debut and played for Mumbai for a while. But he was in and out of the team and did not know if there would be a future. But he had a backup, which he was very interested in. So, he just applied for a few colleges for his masters and got into an Ivy League college, Cornell (University)," Nidhi further said.
“He didn’t even take his cricket kit when he went to the USA for the first time in 2015 because it was the end of his cricketing career. There were no bitter feelings.
“He gave his 100%, had his ups and downs, and then chose a different path. But what’s meant to happen, it will happen for sure. It finds its way back to you," Nidhi said.
Saurabh Didn’t Choose Cricket, but Cricket Chose Him
The left-arm quick may have left his kitbag home in Mumbai, but he was destined to reunite with the sport. He held the cricket ball again, just for fun on weekends, but eventually, the long-lost big match player inside him returned to life. Stars kept aligning while he inched closer to fulfilling his dream to play international cricket; if not for India, then be it for the USA.
“One of his coaches from Bombay had recommended a club there. He asked Saurabh to go there and practice on weekends, just like a side hobby. And he started doing that," Nidhi told CricketNext.
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“And then that’s how it started again. People later realised that he was an under-19 India player. They saw the potential in him. He moved on from Club cricket to university cricket and kept going ahead. Eventually, he made it to the US team. When they qualified from division four to division two, he was the side’s captain.
“Before moving to the US, there were no certain plans for him to go and play cricket there. The only word that describes his journey is destiny. I feel like whatever has happened to him has happened because it was meant to be," she added.
Saurabh vs Kohli, Rohit
Nidhi and her father never wanted Saurabh to bowl the famous Super Over against Pakistan, and they don’t want anything like that when the USA faces India on June 11 at Nassau County Stadium in New York. Also, the upcoming game has put them in a dilemma regarding which team to support, but they have figured this out.
Let Saurabh do his thing with conviction, and India can take away the game; that’s their mindset.
“We are supporting India. We want India to win the World Cup, and we are confident they have a good chance. That’s also what we had hoped for in the ODI World Cup. We were born and brought up here, and we love Indian cricket.
“We definitely want India to win not just this match but the World Cup, but we also want him to perform well.
“So, yeah. It is a dilemma for us," she added.
Full-time Engineer, part-time cricketer
Engineers in international cricket have always made the sport interesting. In India, engineers who played for the country became legends of the game. But it’s different in a country like America, where the gentlemen’s game struggles to make a place for itself. Saurabh, too, shuffles different roles. In fact, he carries his laptop with his kitbag. Thanks to his company’s supportive management, Oracle Corp has extended full support to their superstar, allowing him to play and work from anywhere.
“He’s been very fortunate to have people who have always supported him throughout his career. He knows that when he’s not playing cricket, he has to give 100 per cent to the job. So right now, when he’s working, he carries his laptop everywhere. And he has the freedom to work from anywhere," Nidhi said.
“Even when he comes to India, he brings his laptop. He’s working. So after the match in the hotel, he’s doing his work. He is pretty dedicated like that."
And that is something Mumbai has taught him right from the day he was growing up. Saurabh’s sister said multitasking is familiar to someone like him who used to do his homework in the Mumbai locals.
“This is something which is like that Mumbaikarness in him, which is always there, this whole hustle culture in us.
“You can’t just take it out. You know, like all of us, like since the beginning, when he used to travel to Churchgate for his training on the train, he was to do his homework. He played cricket but also studied well and topped in his class. He’s always had two careers in my perspective," she concluded.
Stay updated with the latest from T20 World Cup 2024. Explore T20 World Cup Match Today. Check Updated list of Highest-run getters and Highest Wicket-Takers In T20 World Cup 2024. Check T20 World Cup 2024 Points Table and players with the Most Sixes, Most Fours , Most Fifties And Most HundredsIn T20 World Cup 2024.
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