Suryakumar Yadav's 10-year old tweet for Saurabh Netravalkar goes viral after the latter drops his catch

Middle-order batter Suryakumar Yadav's decade-old tweet about left-arm pacer Saurabh Netravalkar went viral on social media after India's victory over the United States of America (USA) in the 2024 T20 World Cup. Suryakumar Yadav and Saurabh Netravalkar played together for Mumbai U-15s, U-17s, and U-19s.

The Indian cricket team registered a seven-wicket victory against the United States of America at the Nassau County International Cricket Stadium in New York on Wednesday, June 12. The Rohit Sharma-led team became the first team from Group A to reach the Super 8 stages of the marquee T20 tournament.

Saurabh dropped a catch by Suryakumar in the 13th over, which proved costly for the USA cricket team. At that point, Suryakumar was batting on 22 runs, and India needed 53 more runs for victory in the match. Following the game, Suryakumar's ten-year-old tweet went viral on X (formerly known as Twitter).

"Opportunities do not happen. You create them," wrote Suryakumar while tagging the US star pacer.

Opportunities do not happen. You create them @<!---->S<!---->a<!---->u<!---->r<!---->a<!---->b<!---->h<!---->_<!---->N<!---->e<!---->t<!---->r<!---->a @<!---->S<!---->u<!---->f<!---->i<!---->y<!---->a<!---->n<!---->S<!---->h<!---->a<!---->i<!---->k<!---->h<!---->4<!---->3

— Surya Kumar Yadav (@surya_14kumar) D<!---->e<!---->c<!---->e<!---->m<!---->b<!---->e<!---->r<!----> <!---->5<!---->,<!----> <!---->2<!---->0<!---->1<!---->4

Suryakumar Yadav played a crucial role for India while chasing a 111-run target. The right-handed batter scored an unbeaten 50 runs off 49 deliveries, including two fours and as many sixes. Suryakumar added an unbeaten 72-run partnership with Shivam Dube, who scored 31 runs off 35 balls, for the fourth wicket.

Saurabh Netravalkar, on the other hand, dismissed Virat Kohli for a golden duck in the first over. The left-arm pacer also removed Rohit Sharma in his second over, leaving India in a challenging situation at 10/2. He ended with two wickets for 18 runs in his full quota of overs but could not guide his team to victory.

Suryakumar Yadav Has Been A Close Friend - Saurabh Netravalkar

Before the match, Saurabh Netravalkar described Suryakumar Yadav as a close friend. Netravalkar reminisced about their days playing together for Mumbai since under-15 cricket. Netravalkar expressed happiness for Suryakumar's success with India.

“Suryakumar has been a close friend, actually. I’ve seen him since our under-15 days; we kind of grew up playing for Mumbai together. He was always special, scoring double hundreds and stuff in under-15 and under-17 matches,” Netravalkar said on Star Sports.

“He got a chance to play for India later than I expected, but I’m really happy for him. I’m excited to meet him, and it’s an opportunity to play not just against him but also against a lot of the guys we played with. I don’t know how to get Surya out, but I think I’ll just try to do my role, what the team needs me to do,” Netravalkar added.

The United States of America suffered their first loss of the T20 World Cup 2024 after beating Canada and Pakistan. The USA team will face Ireland in their final group-stage match in Florida on Friday, June 14. They will advance to the Super 8s with a victory or washout in their upcoming match.

Also read: Arshdeep Singh placed on the same pedestal as Jasprit Bumrah after just 1 good performance vs USA