Life came to a full circle for former Mumbai pacer Saurabh Netravalkar when he was named the captain of US national cricket team.

Netravalkar quit cricket for Mumbai to study computers at the Cornell University. He was a part of the Indian team that played in the 2010 Under-19 Cricket World Cup. While India crashed out following their loss to arch-rivals Pakistan in the quarters, Netravalkar was India’s highest wicket-taker that tournament with nine scalps in six matches.

Two of his prominent victims were England’s future captain Joe Root and Pakistan’s explosive batsman Ahmed Shehzad.

Three years later, Netravalkar played his only Ranji Trophy match for Mumbai, which was against Karnataka, and claimed three wickets.

Speaking to a news organization, Netravalkar said, “I gave two years full-time to cricket but felt I wasn’t making it to the next level. An engineering graduate from Sardar Patel Institute of Technology in Mumbai, he took the GRE and TOEFL exams and went to Cornell for a Master's in 2015. He discovered cricket during his Cornell years and padded up for new innings.

Although Netravalkar was moving on in his life and post-college, he had a new job in Oracle as a software engineer in San Francisco. However, he knew how to keep his passion for cricket alive.

Every weekend, Netravalkar he drove from San Francisco to Los Angeles, a six-hour-drive, to play a 50-over match.

“On Friday, I used to leave a little early from office with a fellow player and drive to LA. We would play a 50-over game in LA on Saturday. Then we would drive back in the night and play a 50-over game in San Francisco on Sunday. It was back to work on Monday. I put in a lot of effort which was noticed by the selectors. I got picked this January when I became eligible for national selection,” he said.

According to statistics, cricket in the US has grown rapidly in recent times. The game reportedly is played in 48 states with over 400 leagues, 6,000 teams, and more than 200,000 participants. The game has a fan following of approximately between 22 million and 36 million.

The national US cricket team comprises of players mostly from the West Indies, India, and Pakistan.

In the past, Maharashtra’s Sushil Nadkarni and Hyderabad’s Ibrahim Khaleel have also captained Team USA.

Speaking about his coach, Netravalkar said, “Our coach, Pubudu Dassanyake, has kept wickets for Sri Lanka in both Tests and ODIs.”

Netravalkar earlier was picked to play for Guyana Amazon Warriors in the Caribbean Premier League. He didn't get a game though.

The US national cricket team next will travel to Oman where they are scheduled to play in the ICC World Cricket League Division 3, which will be a qualifier for the 2023 ODI World Cup.

Although playing in the main draw of the World Cup is still a faraway dream, Saurabh Netravalkar’s story has certainly given everyone a lesson: Never give up!