5 players born in India but playing for a different country in T20 World Cup 2024 ft. Saurabh Netravalkar
The T20 World Cup 2024 started a few days ago in the United States. Home team USA beat neighbors Canada in the tournament opener to secure their first win in the mega event's history.
America-born Aaron Jones was the hero for the United States. He smashed a 40-ball 94 to help his team record a seven-wicket victory in Dallas. While Jones hails from the US only, quite a few fans observed that players from different nations of the world were present in the American playing XI. Even in the Canadian team, there were a few players from other countries.
India is one of the major cricketing hubs, but only 11 players can make it to the Indian team for a T20 World Cup match. Considering the immense competition level in India, the following five Indians decided to move to another nation and are representing that country now in T20 World Cup 2024.
#1 Saurabh Netravalkar, USA
Born in Mumbai, Saurabh Netravalkar is a left-arm fast bowler. The 32-year-old once represented India at the U-19 level. In fact, he played in the U-19 World Cup 2010 for India alongside the likes of KL Rahul, Mayank Agarwal and Sandeep Sharma.
Netravalkar also played domestic cricket for Mumbai, but he moved to the USA due to a lack of opportunities and aimed to purse a career in engineering. Luckily for Netravalkar, he received a chance to revive his cricketing career in the United States. He is now one of the senior players of the USA team.
#2 Nisarg Patel, USA
Another USA squad member to feature on the list is Nisarg Patel. Born in Ahmedabad, Nisarg has been playing cricket for USA since 2018. He is a left-arm spin bowler and a right-handed batter.
The all-rounder has represented USA in 41 ODIs and 21 T20Is. His experience will prove handy to the American team in the ongoing T20 World Cup tournament.
#3 Monank Patel, USA captain in T20 World Cup 2024
It might surprise a few fans but USA team's captain Monank Patel also hails from Gujarat. He was born in Anand district of Gujarat on May 1, 1993. The 31-year-old is not only the captain of USA but he can also keep the wickets.
Patel has aggregated 457 runs in 23 T20I innings of his career so far. He has registered two half-centuries, with his batting average being 21.76.
#4 Dinesh Nakrani, Uganda
Along with USA, Uganda are also making their debut in the T20 World Cup 2024. Cricket is new in Uganda, which is why their squad also features some players born in another nation.
One of them is all-rounder Dinesh Nakrani, who was born in Kutch district of Gujarat. He is a left-arm medium pacer, with his best T20I figures being 6/7. The 32-year-old once shared the Saurashtra dressing room with Cheteshwar Pujara in domestic cricket.
#5 Navneet Dhaliwal, Canada
Another team making its debut in T20 World Cup 2024 is Canada. The Canadian squad has quite a few Asian-origin cricketers. One of them is Navneet Dhaliwal, who was born in Chandigarh.
Dhaliwal is a middle-order batter, who can also bowl right-arm medium pace. He came into the limelight when he smashed 61 against USA in the T20 World Cup 2024 opener. It will be interesting to see if he can continue his top form in the upcoming matches.