Though netravalkar

When Saurabh Netravalkar: When Saurabh Netravalkar first learnt the India-USA fixture in the 2026 Men's T20 World Cup would be at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai, it hit him hard. As a teenager in eighth grade, he made his first trip to the iconic venue.

Whenever the train passed by the stadium, glimpses of the pitch through the window fuelled his dreams of playing professional cricket. On Saturday, that dream comes true - just not how the teenaged Netravalkar imagined it - wearing USA's navy blue and red as their pace spearhead in the away team dressing room.

“I was secretly hoping I would get to play on Wankhede, preferably with India. As a child, I grew up dreaming to play for India at Wankhede. But the dream is going to come true in playing for the USA. Still it’s going to be even more special, because it's like a full circle moment where I had actually given up on the game and then had to restart everything from scratch.