Homecoming for army of Indian-origin cricketers this T20 World Cup

Led by Canada and USA, an army of more than three dozen Indian-origin cricketers will get to perform on the “home stage” when the T20 World Cup begins in India and Sri Lanka from February 7. For someone like Mumbai-born USA pacer Saurabh Netravalkar, playing against India at the Wankhede Stadium would mark a full circle moment. He could not go on to play for the country of his birth but is looking forward to an emotional return to the ground of his formative years.

Phagwara-born Italy pacer Jaspreet Singh too can’t wait to play top-flight cricket in a country he left as a teenager. The Netherlands off-spinner Aryan Dutt was not born in India but he too relishes turning up in the country of his roots and where cricket is revered like nowhere else. Across the 20 teams taking part in the ICC event, Canada (11) have the most number of Indian-origin players followed by USA (9), Oman (7) and UAE (7).

While hosts India would be expected to defend their title at home, the ‘Indian hand’ will be at play in majority of the participating teams. PTI looks at some of the cricketers of Indian heritage who could make a big impact with their performances in the T20 showpiece.

Saurabh Netravalkar: The USA left-arm pacer who played U-19 cricket for India has reachedMumbai for the World Cup opener against the home team having proven himself on the global stage in the tournament’s previous edition. The 34-year-old cricketer-cum-software engineer was one of the pillars of USA’s successful campaign in the 2024 edition in which the debutants upset the likes of Pakistan to qualify for the Super 8 stage.

Netravalkar is raring to go in the more unforgiving pitches of India but for starters, he would be trying keep his emotions in check when he takes the field at Wankhede against his former Mumbai teammate Suryakumar Yadav on February 7.

“I wouldn’t know how I would react there. But it is an emotional moment, for sure. Kind of like a full circle moment because I started playing cricket in Mumbai and gave up on the sport and moved to the US and never even expected to play cricket again. International (cricket) wasn’t even a thought,” he told PTI.

Monank Patel: Captain of USA in the tournament-opener against India would be Anand-born Monank Patel who too established himself on the World Cup stage with a match-winning half-century against Pakistan. The 32-year-old opening batter is looking forward to facing his Gujarat U-19 teammate Jasprit Bumrah while reminiscing their younger days off the field. Bumrah has gone on to become arguably the best fast bowler in the world and Monank saw that coming as a teenager.

“We played both red-ball and white-ball cricket, and those were really special times. It was the early stage of my cricketing journey and even back then, the way we were playing , especially the way Jasprit was performing, we knew he had that X-factor and that he would definitely go on to do something great,” said Monank.

Jaspreet Singh: With Italy making their World Cup debut, Phagwara-born Jaspreet Singh would be getting all the extra attention. The 32-year-old Jaspreet moved to a town close to Milan with his family back in 2006. He started his cricketing journey in his adopted homeland with tape-ball cricket before graduating to red-ball cricket in 2016-17, leading to his international debut in 2019. Getting to play in an ICC event is stuff of dreams for the pacer who worked as an Uber driver not so long ago to make ends meet.

Aryan Dutt: Aryan Dutt already has the experience of playing in front of Indians fans during the ODI World Cup in 2023. The sole cricketer of Indian lineage in the Netherlands squad, the 22-year-old would be aiming to surprise the higher-ranked teams in the competition. Dutt’s family had moved to the Netherlands from Punjab back in the 1980s. He still has extended family in the Indian state.

Dilpreet Bajwa: Gurdaspur-born Bajwa moved to Canada only in 2020 and six years later he returns to India as captain of the North American outfit. Despite making a bagful of runs in age-group cricket in Punjab, Bajwa did not get the opportunities he wished for and pretty much got used to rejection. However, he did not let that phase bog him down and vowed to continue his cricketing journey in a less competitive environment.

Success in the Canada Global T20 League fast-tracked him into the national team and he has not looked back thereafter. The 23-year-old was part of Canada’s campaign in the 2024 T20 World Cup and two years later, he finds himself playing in an ICC event in the country of his birth, evoking a mixed bag of emotions.

Jatiner Singh: Like Bajwa, Ludhiana-born Jatinder too would have the honour of captaining the side of his chosen homeland. The 36-year-old Oman captain has been around for more than a decade but never got the opportunity to play in India. However, with all of Oman’s league fixtures scheduled in Sri Lanka, it is unlikely that Jatinder would be able to realise his dream of playing in his native land.