T20 World Cup Trio of the USA Opens Up on Indian Cricket Connection
The match between India and the USA in the T20 World Cup 2024 is expected to be historic from many angles, as it is the first time that the two teams square off on the international stage in the senior circuit. On Wednesday, ahead of the Indo-US game in New York, co-hosts Saurabh Netravalkar, Harmeet Singh, and Monank Patel opened up about their Indian connections.
In a chat, Harmeet revealed that he and Rohit are from the same school. In fact, both made their first-class debut together.
He said, "Growing up, I used to look up to Rohit Sharma. Rohit comes from my school, and he had just graduated when I entered. I made my first-class debut with him, and he played in the under-19 World Cup a few tournaments before me. In Bombay, it was all about the beyond-Bandra schools and cricketers, but Rohit started that in the suburbs, and from there we all followed. Some other guys I have played under-19 India with are Sanju, Kuldeep, and Axar. It'll be fun catching up and playing against them as well.”
Netravalkar USA pacer has now revealed that SKY and he have been good friends for quite a while.
The seamer said, "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. So, he had that flair about him, and we knew he would go on to do something special. He got a chance to play for India later than I expected, but I'm really happy for him.”
USA captain Monank Patel revealed that he played with the Indian duo of Axar Patel and Jasprit Bumrah in the U19 and U15 sides.
"I have played with Axar and Bumrah in under-19 and under-15 matches. Axar comes from the same town where I am from. It's a small town, and he has obviously motivated and encouraged a lot of youngsters from there. I'm happy to see them growing and playing good cricket," he revealed.