Despite making its debut in this year’s tournament, Team USA made history on Friday by achieving a record-breaking milestone in qualifying for the Super Eights stage of the T20 World Cup. Even better, the record will get new life in the same year the country (along with the West Indies) will host its first-ever Cricket World Cup.
The team that ushered in a new era for the sport in the United States got a lot of credit for this, with seven of the 15 members being from India. This year’s U.S. team was certainly in a class of its own, especially star bowler Saurabh Netravalkar, who was instrumental in the team’s victory over Pakistan on Thursday. But that’s not all. There’s more to this cricketer than meets the eye: he can code.
Long before the US men’s cricket team even stepped on the field, Netravalkar was already making waves for living the best of both worlds after one of his colleagues revealed on X (formerly Twitter) that he was an Oracle employee. This initial buzz about the man of the hour caught the attention of fans, especially in India, who eagerly awaited the US vs India showdown on June 12. India ultimately prevailed, winning by seven wickets.
Fans and players alike may have been in tears at the emotional exchange between the Indian team and the USA team, which was heavily bolstered by the Indian players, but those emotions have now turned to anxiety as fans worry about Saurabh Netravalkar’s future amid a looming dilemma.
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AI engineer and cricket star Saurabh Netravalkar and the dilemma faced by professional cricketers
Netravalkar and fellow Indian tech influencer Devargya (Deedi) Das sparked a conversation on X/Twitter, raising the intriguing question of whether the star bowler would be given adequate time off from Oracle.
He posted on the social media platform about an American computer software company’s leave policy for employees, saying: “The US team could potentially qualify for the Super 8s at the Cricket World Cup for the first time in history…
But the real question is whether their star bowler Netravalkar will get paid leave beyond 18 days from Oracle.”
Deedy noted that Oracle offers two types of vacation benefits: “flexible” and “accumulated.” The former is offered to salaried employees, while the latter is offered to “employees who are not covered by the flexible vacation policy but are eligible for vacation benefits. Employees accumulate 13 days of vacation per year for the first three years of employment, and 18 days thereafter.”
Despite the happy news for the US team, hordes of cricket fans were left hanging with gloomy speculations about what awaits Netravalkar.
Responding to Deedee’s tweet, one person wrote: “He probably doesn’t get paid time off and his match fees are probably way less than his salary. He’ll be paying to go to the World Cup!”
“Working from home during the day, T20Is at night,” one person quipped.
Others took note of the “amount of PR” Oracle is garnering by having a tech-savvy cricketer by his side: “Considering the amount of PR Oracle is getting, they should actually pay him more.”
Plus, if Oracle messes up at all, Microsoft and Google are probably already looking to hire him 😂”
Some even suggested a bargain deal for Oracle and that company executives should sponsor the team: “Oracle would get free promotion and would end up becoming brand ambassadors😊”
Meanwhile, some pondered whether Oracle might have already agreed to an increased exception in his case: “It’s a reputation and PR issue for Oracle, so they’ll probably agree” and “He would, after all, he’s helping to increase Oracle’s brand awareness around the world” were punctuated with “Saurabh, an AI engineer at Oracle…”
Either way, the American fast bowler has a lot more on his plate than any other full-time cricketer who can dedicate every penny, sweat and second to a dream worthy of the sport.
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Oracle comes forward in support of Saurabh Netravalkar
As the team advanced to the upcoming rounds of the ninth Men’s T20 World Cup, Oracle jumped out to congratulate the players. The multinational company’s official X account posted a tribute to the player on its social media feed, writing: “So proud of our AI engineer and cricket star @Saurabh_Netra! @usacricket makes history at the #T20WorldCup.”
In contrast to the fans’ heartbreaking comments, the Mumbai-born fast bowler replied positively, thanking his employer. “A huge thank you to @Oracle for supporting me in pursuing my passion alongside my career in technology!” Netravalkar wrote. Netravalkar initially represented India in the 2010 U-19 Cricket World Cup but ultimately opted to pursue a Masters in Computer Science from Cornwell University.
While tweets can’t fully reflect the sobering reality facing the American cricket star, for now it seems he’s in the right hands, especially as Oracle has consistently voiced his strength as Netravalkar, at least online.
