Mumbai, Feb 6 (PTI) He played a key role in victory over Pakistan and also snaffled two key wickets against India to push USA’s charge in the last T20 World Cup. But while playing in the Indian subcontinent, defence may be the best form of attack, says USA’s Saurabh Netravalkar.
One of the three players from Mumbai to take the field against India in the T20 World Cup opener here on Saturday, Netravalkar is on the cusp of making “dream debut” here at the Wankhede Stadium but is aware of the challenges.
“The focus will more be on minimising the damage, like you’re saying (there are) high scoring pitches here,” Netravalkar told reporters on the eve of their match against India.
“Every ball that we bowl, (it should be) to the field, as long as we bowl to the field, we bowl to our matchups and maximise our chances.” “Defence might be the best attack on this kind of pitches and hopefully we induce a mistake on a false shot, that’s the best we can do as bowlers on these wickets,” he said.
Talking about playing at the Wankhede Stadium, Netravalkar said that it would help him live his childhood dream.
“It feels like a full circle moment for me because I learnt my cricket here. I grew up in Mumbai and getting an opportunity to play at Wankhede, which has been my dream since childhood as well,” he said.
“… so nostalgic, emotional, (and) good to see (it happening). I’m looking forward for my family, friends to be there, and I’ll give my best.” USA batter Sanjay Krishnamurthi hoped their participation inspires the future generation of players.
“For all Americans, this is a special moment for our country to be able to come here and play cricket in one of the most iconic stadiums against one of the best teams in the world right now,” he said.
“It’s going to inspire a future generation of cricketers to come and rise through the ranks in American cricket.” Looking back at USA’s journey since the 2024 T20 World Cup wherein they made it to Super Eight round, Netravalkar said the team has grown a lot in experience.
“Since then, we’ve grown a lot in experience as a unit with obviously three seasons of Major League Cricket. Quite a few of our guys have got good gigs in franchise leagues around the world,” he said.
“We’ve been also playing the 50-overs qualifiers for (the) 2027 (ODI) World Cup. So far, so good, we are top of the table. We are doing decently. That experience has increased and hopefully it shows on the field,” Netravalkar added.
Netravalkar said the knowledge of Indian conditions in the camp, coming through him, Harmeet Singh and Shubham Ranjane, would be handy.
“It definitely helps, but frankly speaking, it’s been a long time. Like last I played in India would be 2014, 2015, things have changed drastically,” Netravalkar said.
“The game itself has changed drastically. It’s become so much more aggressive from the better’s perspective, so I wouldn’t compare it. Yes, the experience helps, but the game is very different.” When asked if players in the USA team from Indian and Pakistani origin discuss about all that’s been happening between the two countries, Netravalkar replied in negative.
“We are a group of people from multiple countries across the group and what brings us together is the love of the game. We are proud to represent the USA and that’s what we focus on,” he said.
Krishnamurthi admitted that USA will miss having Aaron Jones in their campaign but said there’s enough in the ranks to fill the void. Jones has been charged with five breaches of the ICC Anti-Corruption Code and suspended from all cricket.
“Aaron’s is a senior player in this team and he performed very well last World Cup, but we have a whole batting line of full of batters with quite a bit of experience and over the last two years in franchise cricket,” Krishnamurthi said.
“Most of us have done quite well. We’re going to miss him at the same time,” he added. PTI DDV DDV AH AH
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