"From the suburbs of Mumbai going out there and conquering the world"- USA's Harmeet Singh on schoolmate Rohit Sharma
USA left-arm spinner Harmeet Singh revealed that he and Indian captain Rohit Sharma went to the same school. Harmeet and Rohit both played their domestic cricket for Mumbai before the former flew to the United States and became a part of their cricket team.
Harmeet shed light on how difficult it was for players from the suburban area of Mumbai to make it big in their domestic cricket. He was inspired by how Rohit was able to stand out with his performances, not just for Mumbai but also for the Indian team and becoming such a huge icon of the game.
Speaking to Star Sports ahead of the encounter between India and USA, here's what Harmeet Singh had to say:
"Growing up, I used to look up to Rohit Sharma. Rohit comes from my school, and he had just graduated when I entered. I made my first-class debut with him, and he played in the under-19 World Cup a few tournaments before me. It was really exciting to see someone from the suburbs of Mumbai going out there and conquering the world."
Harmeet revealed that he has also shared the dressing room at the Indian U-19 level with the likes of Sanju Samson, Kuldeep Yadav, and Axar Patel and is looking forward to the contest against them.
USA's Saurabh Netravalkar on close friend Suryakumar Yadav
USA's Saurabh Netravalkar, like Harmeet Singh, had represented Mumbai in domestic cricket in his early days and recalled how close his friendship was with star batter Suryakumar Yadav. Netravalkar claimed that he always knew SKY would make it big as he had seen him score runs for fun from close quarters.
On this, Netravalkar stated on Star Sports:
"Suryakumar has been a close friend, actually. I've seen him since our under-15 days; we kind of grew up playing for Mumbai together. He was always special, scoring double hundreds and stuff in under-15 and under-17 matches. He got a chance to play for India later than I expected, but I'm really happy for him."
Netravalkar also said that he had no specific plan to dismiss Suryakumar Yadav just yet, but would do whatever his team requires of him during the match. The winner of India and USA's encounter on Wednesday will book their spot in the Super 8 stage.