Two Former India U-19 Players to Play for United States of America

Two former India Under-19 players, Saurabh Netravalkar and Sunny Sohal, seem to have realised their dream of playing international cricket after they were picked by the United States national side after the ICC lowered the minimum residency for eligibility from four years to three years.

Saurabh Netravalkar played in the 2010 Under-19 World Cup alongside KL Rahul and Jaydev Unadkat and was also India’s leading wicket-taker in the tournament.

The two former India Under-19 players recently made the switch to compete for the USA in the ongoing CWI Super50 Cup. Netravalkar played for Mumbai in the Ranji Trophy before he shifted base to the USA to pursue his career in engineering and gave up hopes on playing cricket.

On January 31st this year, just over three years after he played his last game for Mumbai, Netravalkar debuted for the USA against the Leeward Islands.

Talking about the turn of events in cricketing career Saurabh said,

“Frankly speaking, I didn’t even carry my cricket shoes to the USA.” 

Netravalkar enrolled in a masters degree program in computer science at Cornell University in New York, 

“I was completely focused on academics. [After seeing the cricket locally] the next time I went to India, I came back with my kit. In 2015, I realised it’s really competitive to get back to the international level. I thought I had good educational skills and I got admitted at the right time to Cornell, which is one of the best universities in the world for computer science. I thought it was a good opportunity and considering in the long run that education would help me, I took that step at that time.”

On the other hand, Sohal was just one step away from making it to the national side and was a little more successful. Sohal played in cash-rich Indian Premier League for Kings XI Punjab and Deccan Chargers.

Sohal also played for the India A side but missed out on making it to the national side. Sohal said he didn’t get enough chances in India and with this second chance in the land of opportunities he would like to make the most of the given opportunity.

“I can’t thank God enough. I am absolutely delighted over this opportunity coming my way, and I will give my best to make it count,”

Sohal played for Punjab in the Ranji Trophy before he shifted base to the US in 2014. Sohal, made 1202 runs in 21 first class matches. However, the 30-year old said he completely given up playing cricket a year before he shifted to USA,

“I wasn’t happy with the chances I was getting back home.  In fact, for about a year before moving to the US, I had almost given up playing cricket,” recalled Sohal. “But then I landed in the US, the land of opportunities, and I was back on the ground, playing and enjoying the game again.”

Sohal made a name for himself while playing in the Washington Cricket League (WCL) for a team called Potomac. Shoal said,

“It’s quite a competitive league. We’ve many current and former internationals, especially from the West Indies and Pakistan, playing in WCL. I’ve been quite consistent, and that has earned me a call-up to the national team of the US,” 

Sohal is hopeful about the future of American cricket, 

“Cricket is being introduced in schools. The cricket federation is making lot of efforts to promote the game, and creating infrastructure is not an issue here. So, I can see cricket coming up in a big way here.”

Talking about the second chance given to him in international cricket,

“I couldn’t make it in India, but I will make the most of the opportunity here.” 

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