Saurabh Netravalkar reveals victory wasn't on USA's mind during historic win against Pakistan

New York [USA], June 8 (ANI): USA pacer Saurabh Netravalkar admitted that they didn't "believe" victory was on the cards for them against Pakistan. At the Grand Prairie Stadium, USA left the world of cricket stunned after clinching a five-run win in the Super Over against the 2009 T20 World Cup winner Pakistan earlier this week.Netravalkar was a key figure for the USA in their maiden triumph over Pakistan. He played his part by producing an influential spell of 2/18 in the first innings. The 32-year-old defended 18 runs in the Super Over to take the game away from Pakistan.

In a single match, Netravalkar became a sensation on social media as fans started to compare him with Bollywood actor Akshay Kumar's Patiala House character. However, victory wasn't on their mind when they stepped into the Dallas stadium against the Babar Azam-led team.

"It is a special feeling for everyone. We prepared well for the tournament and put in a lot of hard work for the past two to three months. If we play well, it gives us the confidence to give competition to top teams," Netravalkar told ANI.

"Frankly speaking, didn't think about winning the game. We just thought of giving our best and then seeing where we stood. We will learn from each game and improve ourselves." he added.

It was a match where individual moments of brilliance and small contributions from each player played a key role in their win. Nitish Kumar struck a four on the final ball to send the game to Super Over. Steven Taylor took a brilliant catch early in the first innings to show Mohammad Rizwan the way towards the dugout. Hard-hitting batter Aaron Jones smacked two towering sixes in critical moments to keep the co-hosts on track.

"It was a good team performance, players showed individual brilliance and made small contributions. Like, Steve Taylor taking a brilliant catch in my over. Aaron Jones scored six in a crucial moment. Nitish scored a four on the last ball. Our captain scored a fifty so everyone contributed to that win. So it feels good that all players contributed towards the win," Netravalkar noted.

In the Super Over, Mohammad Amir's struggle to hit the right length led to a couple of extras. Despite hitting a single boundary, the USA managed to put up 19 runs on the board. For Netravalkar, it was a moral victory as he knew he just needed to pull off a couple of deliveries to seal the game for his team.

"We began on a good note, we batted first and we scored 19 runs. It is a sort of moral victory because 19 runs mean that you need to bowl three good deliveries. So in my mind, it was like keeping the process simple," Netravalkar said.

When the USA came out to defend their total against power-hitters like Imad Wasim and Fakhar Zaman, Netravalkar already had a plan in store to neutralize their strength. The left-arm pacer bowled wide yorkers to keep the ball away from the batter's arc. The plan worked and Pakistan could only put up 13/1 on the board.

"I saw their bowling and went with a similar plan because the leg side had a smaller boundary while the offside had a bigger one. So our plan was to make them play on offside. I bowled wide yorkers according to our plan. On the last ball, my plan was to avoid a wide delivery and bowl a safe delivery. I was confident however, after conceding a four on the second last delivery I was nervous but then I focused on the thought process and backed my plan," Netravalkar stated.

With two wins under their belt, the USA will now aim for a spot in the Super 8. They will face a tough challenge in their next two games as they gear up to face India and Ireland. The first challenge for them will be one of the tournament favourites, India. The pitches have been two-faced and unpredictable for the majority of the tournament.

The familiarity of playing in Dallas helped them but Netravalkar is aware that it would be hard to read the Nassau County International Cricket Stadium pitch during the India game.

"The conditions in the US are unpredictable. Even we don't know how the stadium in New York will play out because we haven't played a single game there. We were familiar with the Dallas pitch because we played there last year. So it was an advantage to us," Netravalkar remarked.

The USA will face India in the Group A clash at the Nassau County International Cricket Stadium on Wednesday.

USA team: Monank Patel (c), Aaron Jones, Andries Gous, Corey Anderson, Ali Khan, Harmeet Singh, Jessy Singh, Milind Kumar, Nisarg Patel, Nitish Kumar, Noshtush Kenjige, Saurabh Nethralvakar, Shadley Van Schalkwyk, Steven Taylor, Shayan Jahangir. Reserve Players: Gajanand Singh, Juanoy Drysdale, Yasir Mohammad. (ANI)