“The plan was simple that I will try and bowl wide yorkers to the right handers and try to keep it out of his range as the boundary on that side was bigger. First ball the batter shifted and didn’t get a wide and second ball, he stayed rooted and connected, and then, I got a couple of wides, as I was trying for wide lines. But I must say that 18 runs helped and all those extra runs that Harmeet (Singh) and Aaron (Jones) ran, helped. Basically, if you are defending around 20, all you need is three good balls, and the job is done. It is one of the best matches I have played.”

However, Netravalkar would also say matter of factly that while things are looking up for those who want to pursue cricket as profession in the US, but for him, his day job at Oracle is still his primary source of “bread and butter”.

“The best part is that I have got very supportive bosses at Oracle and I am allowed to work remotely when I am on tour, playing for the United States. So on match days, I am excused from work but then there are scheduled project meetings which warrants my presence and then I work my practice schedule accordingly. I would also thank US Cricket board as they also are flexible if I have meetings lined up.”

His is a fascinating story.

“I can tell you that when I play local matches or club games in the United States, I have often logged in for a meeting at the lunch break and people have been very accommodating. At Oracle, they all know by now I play cricket and everyone is happy to support. I work in team Oracle text and I am primarily a coder, who works on SQL and C (programming languages),” he said.

What are the prospects of a full-time cricket career in the United States? “Well, if you have a Major League Contracts, those are good and you can have a full-time cricket career. Minor League Cricket is also seeing an upswing but another avenue is some weekend ‘Pop-Up’ tournaments, basically played from Friday to Sunday in Houston, Florida where you can actually earn well.”

Come June 12, and Netravalkar will be facing the Indian team and he is quite emotional about it.

“I know all of them and Surya (Yadav) and myself have played together for Mumbai U15s, U-17, U-19s. It is so good to see what he has achieved and it will be nice to catch up with them. Playing against India would be truly emotional.”