<p>Mumbai: Life is set to come full circle for India-born, USA-pacer Saurabh Netravalkar come Saturday. Like every kid who picks up a bat or a ball, the 34-year-old dreamt of playing for Mumbai someday. And he did all the right things from the age-group cricket to give wings to that hope.</p>.<p>The now 34-year-old left-armer took a whopping 30 wickets in six games in the Cooch Behar Trophy in 2008-09. In the 2010 Under-19 World Cup in New Zealand, he was the country’s highest wicket-taker. He felt he had done enough — and rightly so — to find a place in the mighty Mumbai Ranji side.</p>.ICC T20 World Cup 2026 | Harshit Rana ruled out of tournament, Mohd Siraj named as replacement.<p>But Mumbai cricket is like mini India with talent bursting through the ranks in every department. And when Netravalkar, raised in Malad (a suburb in Mumbai), was primed to break in, his competition were the seasoned Ajit Agarkar, Zaheer Khan and Ashishkar Salvi, and a young Dhawal Kulkarni. </p>.<p>Despite that, Netravalkar managed to play a first-class game, against Karnataka at the Chinnaswamy Stadium in December 2013. He even played 10 Vijay Hazare Trophy games across 2013/14 and 2014/15 seasons. But every game, Netravalkar was literally fighting for a spot in the side, and the pressure started to take a toll on him.</p>.<p>So during that time, he also completed his Bachelor’s Degree in computer engineering before migrating to the US in 2015 to complete his Master’s at Cornell University. Netravalkar, however, remained connected to cricket by playing recreationally. After education, he kept juggling between work and cricket before going on to make his USA List A debut in 2018.</p>.<p>His biggest moment came in 2024 when he turned up against India in the T20 World Cup hosted by the US and the West Indies. Now 20 months later, the principal software engineer at tech major Oracle, who was one of the standout players for the US in the World Cup last time, will finally play a major game at the iconic Wankhede Stadium.</p>.<p>“Personally, it feels like a full circle moment for me because I learned my cricket here. I grew up in Mumbai and getting an opportunity to play at Wankhede, which has been my dream since childhood. So nostalgic, emotional, good to see and I'm looking forward to my family, friends being there and I'll give my best,” said an emotional Netravalkar on Friday, ahead of the Group A opening clash against India.</p>.<p>The Netravalkars will be out in full force on Saturday. to cheer their son. </p>
<p>Mumbai: Life is set to come full circle for India-born, USA-pacer Saurabh Netravalkar come Saturday. Like every kid who picks up a bat or a ball, the 34-year-old dreamt of playing for Mumbai someday. And he did all the right things from the age-group cricket to give wings to that hope.</p>.<p>The now 34-year-old left-armer took a whopping 30 wickets in six games in the Cooch Behar Trophy in 2008-09. In the 2010 Under-19 World Cup in New Zealand, he was the country’s highest wicket-taker. He felt he had done enough — and rightly so — to find a place in the mighty Mumbai Ranji side.</p>.ICC T20 World Cup 2026 | Harshit Rana ruled out of tournament, Mohd Siraj named as replacement.<p>But Mumbai cricket is like mini India with talent bursting through the ranks in every department. And when Netravalkar, raised in Malad (a suburb in Mumbai), was primed to break in, his competition were the seasoned Ajit Agarkar, Zaheer Khan and Ashishkar Salvi, and a young Dhawal Kulkarni. </p>.<p>Despite that, Netravalkar managed to play a first-class game, against Karnataka at the Chinnaswamy Stadium in December 2013. He even played 10 Vijay Hazare Trophy games across 2013/14 and 2014/15 seasons. But every game, Netravalkar was literally fighting for a spot in the side, and the pressure started to take a toll on him.</p>.<p>So during that time, he also completed his Bachelor’s Degree in computer engineering before migrating to the US in 2015 to complete his Master’s at Cornell University. Netravalkar, however, remained connected to cricket by playing recreationally. After education, he kept juggling between work and cricket before going on to make his USA List A debut in 2018.</p>.<p>His biggest moment came in 2024 when he turned up against India in the T20 World Cup hosted by the US and the West Indies. Now 20 months later, the principal software engineer at tech major Oracle, who was one of the standout players for the US in the World Cup last time, will finally play a major game at the iconic Wankhede Stadium.</p>.<p>“Personally, it feels like a full circle moment for me because I learned my cricket here. I grew up in Mumbai and getting an opportunity to play at Wankhede, which has been my dream since childhood. So nostalgic, emotional, good to see and I'm looking forward to my family, friends being there and I'll give my best,” said an emotional Netravalkar on Friday, ahead of the Group A opening clash against India.</p>.<p>The Netravalkars will be out in full force on Saturday. to cheer their son. </p>