Growing up in the Mumbai suburb of Malad, Saurabh Netravalkar always dreamt of playing cricket for India. He was good at academics, but cricket was his first love. The hours spent bowling at the nets finally paid off, with the tall left-arm seamer scalping 30 wickets in the Cooch Behar Trophy (2008-09) and breaking into the Indian team for the 2010 ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup in New Zealand. K.L. Rahul and Mayank Agarwal, current internationals, were his teammates then.
Despite emerging as India’s leading wicket-taker at the World Cup, it took him three more years to earn a place in Mumbai’s Ranji Trophy team. A three-wicket haul in his first-class debut against Karnataka was not enough to cement his place in the side. By then, he had earned an engineering degree from Sardar Patel Institute of Technology in Andheri. In 2015, when a chance to pursue a Master’s degree in computer science at Cornell University, New York, came up, he decided to move on. He said, “I had to be a little practical, I wasn’t making it at the first-class level and you have to look for a Plan B.”
Netravalkar said he thought his cricketing ambitions were over. “I did not even carry my kits with me to the U.S. I always loved to study and was interested in computer science. So when I got the opportunity, I moved on.” Being a Mumbaikar, it was not easy to start afresh. In a country where cricket is still a niche sport, Netravalkar had to rely on the television or browse the Internet to keep tabs on cricketing affairs. He often called up his U-19 mates to chat, but never dreamt that he would be marking his bowling run-up one day.
Cut to 2020. On a bright, sunny morning at Sachin Tendulkar Gymkhana in Kandivali, 28-year-old Netravalkar is training with the members of the U.S. cricket team. The Americans are set to travel to Kathmandu for a tri-nation series, and the former Mumbai pacer is their captain. “I always tell them about Mumbai’s cricketing culture, which teaches you not to give up. I want our team to imbibe that spirit,” he said.
During his playing days, Netravalkar had shared the dressing room with Wasim Jaffer, Siddhesh Lad, Suryakumar Yadav and Shardul Thakur. “I would train with Shardul and Siddhesh. It’s so good to see them come so far,” he said. Though Jaffer switched to Vidarbha in the Ranji Trophy after the India and Mumbai stint, the other three are part of Mumbai’s Ranji squad this season and are known names on the international and IPL circuit. In between training sessions in Mumbai’s suburbs, the pacer is keeping tabs on the ongoing U-19 World Cup in South Africa and is happy to see the Indian colts making it count.
The Kandivali training facility is a familiar venue for Netravalkar, having practised here in his younger days, playing for Payyade Cricket Club. “It’s pretty nostalgic to be playing where I grew up playing cricket. And obviously to represent a nation is a pride in itself, a second chance life gave me,” he said. Netravalkar also fondly remembers training at Oval Maidan, Wankhede Stadium and the MCA Academy in BKC, and playing under coach Satish Sawant since his U-17 days and for the Air India team.
Netravalkar said, “When studying in college there [U.S.], I realised there is something called American College Cricket and inter-college tournaments are held. After my studies were over, I joined Oracle and moved to San Francisco. Sangram Sawant, my coach in Mumbai, hooked me up with a club there.”
By 2018, Netravalkar was eligible to represent the U.S. after the ICC lowered the minimum residency eligibility from four years to three. “That was a great opportunity,” he said. Now, as the U.S. captain, he wants to make his presence felt.
All eyes on the World Cup
When Saurabh Netravalkar travelled to New Zealand with the India U-19 team for the 2010 World Cup, he was excited. “It was the first time we were playing for the country. It was a big thing for all of us,” he said. Under the captaincy of Ashok Menaria, the team finished sixth.
For the team members, it turned out to be a learning experience. As the India U-19 team gears up for World Cup 2020 semifinal against Pakistan on February 4, Netravalkar is happy to see three city players — Yashasvi Jaiswal, Atharva Ankolekar and Divyaansh Saxena — in the squad. “I am following all the games and they are reminding me of my U-19 days. Hope they make it big.”
Over the years, Mumbai has produced quite a few cricketers who have gone on to represent India in the U-19 World Cup. Prithvi Shaw led the team to the title in 2018, Sarfaraz Khan and Arman Jaffer were part of the side that finished runners-up in 2016. In 2012, Harmeet Singh was part of the team which came back with the U-19 World Cup under the captaincy of Unmukt Chand.
