Who is Saurabh Netravalkar? Know His Journey from Engineer to Cricketer

Balancing two careers that are entirely different from one another is something only the rarest of individuals can do. However, 32-year-old Saurabh Netravalkar is doing this exceptionally well. Netravalkar is an Indian-American who is an artificial intelligence (AI) engineer by day and a professional cricketer by night (figuratively).  

He is managing not just a successful career in the tech industry but also an equally impressive one as a cricketer playing for the national team of USA. The Mumbai-born AI engineer has become a cricket sensation for Team USA, captaining the side in multiple international fixtures. This article will look into his life and journey from an engineer to a cricketer. 

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Early Life and Education

Saurabh Netravalkar was born on October 16, 1991, in Mumbai, India. Ever since he was a kid, Netravalkar was interested in both academics and cricket. He pursued his undergraduate studies at the University of Mumbai, earning a bachelor’s degree in computer engineering. 

His academic journey continued, leading him to Cornell University in the United States. At Cornell, he completed a Master’s Degree in Computer Science, graduating with an impressive GPA of 4.088.

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Career and Cricket

Saurabh Netravalkar’s cricketing talent was evident from a young age. His skill as a left-arm medium-fast bowler earned him a spot on the India Under-19 team. One of his early notable performances was at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bengaluru. He bowled a disciplined spell that rattled the stumps of Indian cricket star Yuvraj Singh. His excellent performance granted him a spot in the BCCI Corporate Trophy, which further resulted in his selection for the 2010 ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup. 

Even though he showed great potential and was the top wicket-taker for India in the U19 World Cup of 2010, he found it tough to get into the senior Indian team. He played his initial first-class match for Mumbai in the Ranji Trophy during 2013–14. Also, Netravalkar made an entry in List A matches with the Vijay Hazare Trophy in 2013–14. Yet, chances were few due to a strong pace-based squad featuring players like Zaheer Khan and Ajit Agarkar.

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Moving to the US

When he was at Cornell University, Netravalkar started looking into cricketing options within the United States. He played for the North West Region at the USACA National Championship for the first time and showed good skills during domestic matches as well. Pubudu Dassanayake, who was the U.S. national team’s head coach at that time, saw his talent, which got him selected for the national team. 

In the Regional Super50 tournament that took place in the West Indies in 2018, he played his first match for the U.S. national cricket team. He quickly showed strong leadership skills, and by October of the same year, he was selected as captain for the United States team at international events like the ICC World Cricket League Division Three.

Under his captaincy, his team gained One Day International (ODI) status in 2019. Also, he became the first bowler from the United States to get five wickets in an ODI match and, later on, in T20I cricket.

In the ongoing 2024 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup, he played a crucial role in the United States’ stunning victory against Pakistan by successfully defending 18 runs in the super over. This performance catapulted the U.S. team to the top of their group and Netravalkar into the spotlight. 

Even in the match against his former team, India, he cinched two major wickets, one of Indian captain Rohit Sharma and the other of the iconic Virat Kohli. Though India won the match by 7 wickets, his two wickets gave his team a fighting chance against the mighty Indian team. 

His official bio reads, “Saurabh Netravalkar zippy left arm quick bowler with an efficient action capable of swinging the ball in both directions. His biggest weapons are his consistency of line and length, and ability to hit the string due to his lovely ball release. Saurabh nips the new ball off the deck just enough to cause most batsman trouble and is comfortable with both the new ball in hand as well as the latter stages of limited-overs cricket.”

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Balancing Two Careers

Saurabh Netravalkar was exceptional both in the field and in the office. He began his professional life as a consulting software engineer at Swasth India, where he helped make a digital healthcare system. He started a platform called CricDeCode to assist small-level cricket players in studying their game’s performance.

Netravalkar also became a Member of Technical Staff (MTS) at Oracle in 2016. At present, he holds the position of Principal Member of Technical Staff (PMTS).