Saurabh Netravalkar to miss Netherlands tour as USA Cricket announces major overhaul in T20I, ODI squads

USA Cricket has announced their ODI and T20I squads for the upcoming tour of the Netherlands. They made significant changes to their white-ball teams after their historic ICC T20 World Cup 2024 campaign in the USA and the West Indies in June 2024.

Saurabh Netravalkar, who was the standout performer for the USA in the T20 World Cup 2024, will miss the T20I series against the Netherlands, as he has been granted parental leave by USA Cricket after the birth of his first child.

On the other hand, the USA Cricket wicketkeeper-batter Andries Gous will miss the ODI leg of the tour, as he will also be with his newborn baby.

USA Cricket announces major squad overhaul for Netherlands tour

Well, the USA Cricket selection committee has made several key changes, including dropping Corey Anderson, who struggled with the bat during the T20 World Cup 2024, who has been left out of the T20I squad despite recent success in the Major League Cricket (MLC) 2024.

Left-arm spinner Nisarg Patel has also been dropped to make way for the wrist spinner Yasir Mohammad in both the ODI and T20I squads to add diversity to the spin attack.

Meanwhile, the middle-order batter Milind Kumar has been dropped from the T20I team, but he found a place in the ODI squad due to his strong List A performances in India.

Shadley Van Schalkwyk, a veteran fast-bowling all-rounder, is also dropped from the T20I squad but included in the ODI team for the first time for their Netherlands tour. On the other hand, the young talent Sai Teja Mukkamalla retained his place in both ODI and T20I teams.

However, the selection of 17-year-old Utkarsh Srivastava in both the ODI and T20I teams has raised eyebrows, especially given the recent performances of Sanjay Krishnamurthy and Ali Sheikh, who have excelled in senior cricket and the MLC, and they were overlooked for the Netherlands tour.

Smit Patel gets the opportunity while Unmukt Chand snubbed for the Netherlands tour

The last-minute parental leave request from Gous has opened the door for Smit Patel. The former India U19 wicketkeeper-batter Patel got the call-up after his impressive performance in the Houston Cricket League.

Meanwhile, Unmukt Chand was also overlooked for the Netherlands’ tour despite his domestic success, and it has raised questions about the effectiveness of the MLC as a development platform.

The inclusion of Abhishek Paradkar in both squads over established Minor League players like Corne Dry and Stephen Wiig has also sparked debate, as they have consistently performed at the Minor League level.

Additionally, the status of US citizens Cameron Gannon and Brody Couch remains uncertain, as USA Cricket's chairman, Venu Pisike, revealed they have not taken a final call on this.

Here are the USA squads for the Netherlands tour:

USA ODI Squad: Monank Patel (Captain), Aaron Jones (Vice-Captain), Smit Patel, Abhishek Paradkar, Harmeet Singh, Saiteja Mukkamalla, Steven Taylor, Shayan Jahangir, Shadley Van Schalkwyk, Juanoy Drysdale, Jasdeep Singh, Milind Kumar, Nosthusha Kenjige, Utkarsh Srivastava, Yasir Mohammad.

USA T20I Squad: Monank Patel (Captain), Aaron Jones (Vice-Captain), Andries Gous, Abhishek Paradkar, Harmeet Singh, Juanoy Drysdale, Jasdeep Singh, Steven Taylor, Shayan Jahangir, Utkarsh Srivastava, Muhammad-Ali Khan, Nitish Kumar, Nosthusha Kenjige, Saiteja Mukkamalla, Yasir Mohammad.