Do you believe in miracles?
On Thursday, the United States defeated Pakistan in the T20 World Cup cricket tournament, causing one of the biggest upsets in sports history.
The match was decided in a super over tiebreak, with the USA beating Pakistan by five runs in the final.
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USA’s Saurabh Netravalkar celebrates after the team’s victory against Pakistan in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup cricket match at Grand Prairie Stadium in Grand Prairie, Texas, Thursday, June 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)
Perhaps the Stars and Stripes had home field advantage because the tournament was co-hosted with the United States, and the match took place in Grand Prairie, Texas.
But Pakistan is a cricketing powerhouse; the U.S., frankly, is not. In fact, some of the players on the team probably had to take paid time off to even play in the tournament.
According to Front Office Sports, one of the top American players is Saurabh Netravalkar, a Cornell University graduate and principal engineer at Oracle.
But that’s just a job. Now he’s playing as a bowler on the world stage.
Oracle called Netravalkar its “engineering and cricket star” and congratulated its employees.
USA’s Saurabh Netravalkar (center) celebrates with his teammates after their victory against Pakistan in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup cricket match at Grand Prairie Stadium in Grand Prairie, Texas, Thursday, June 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)
Another member of the team, Ravi Timbawalla, is a manager at Foothill Pharmacy in Rialto, California, according to LinkedIn.
According to ESPN Cric Info, Nisarg Patel also completed a master’s degree in pharmacy before taking a job with the UK branch of an American multinational pharmaceutical company.
It’s a bit like when a Czech Republic electrician struck out Shohei Ohtani in last year’s World Baseball Classic, but at least Japan won that game, 10-2.
To understand this, imagine Pakistan beating Patrick Mahomes, Justin Jefferson, Myles Garrett and Christian McCaffrey in a football game.
“It was our first time playing Pakistan in a World Cup and we won. It was an unbelievable performance,” U.S. captain Monankh Patel said. “The win against Pakistan is a big achievement.”
United States player Nitish Kumar (third from right) celebrates with his teammates after taking a catch to get Pakistan’s Iftikhar Ahmed out during the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup cricket match between the USA and Pakistan at Grand Prairie Stadium in Grand Prairie, Texas, Thursday, June 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)
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Cricket has a long, though lesser known, history in the U.S. Cricket is the national game of Pakistan, which has been a powerhouse in the cricketing world for many years, appearing in the T20 World Cup finals three times.
The U.S. will face off again Wednesday against another cricket powerhouse, India. Pakistan and India are facing off this weekend in a match that will likely draw more viewers than the Super Bowl.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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