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Do you believe in miracles?
One of the biggest upsets in sports history happened Thursday when the United States defeated Pakistan in the T20 World Cup of cricket.
The match was decided in a super over tiebreaker, with the U.S. beating Pakistan by five runs in the final.
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The United States’ Saurabh Netravalkar celebrates after a win in an ICC men’s T20 World Cup cricket match against Pakistan at the Grand Prairie Stadium in Grand Prairie, Texas, Thursday, June 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)
Perhaps the stars and stripes had homefield advantage with the tournament being co-hosted by the United States. The matchup was in Grand Prairie, Texas.
But Pakistan is a cricket powerhouse. The United States, frankly, is not. In fact, some of the team’s players probably had to take paid time off to even play in the tournament.
According to Front Office Sports, one of the top U.S. players, Saurabh Netravalkar, is a principal engineer at Oracle who attended Cornell.
But that’s just a day job. Now, he’s a bowler (pitcher) on the global stage.
Oracle even congratulated its employee, dubbing Netravalkar its “very own engineering and cricket star.
The United States’ Saurabh Netravalkar, center, celebrates with teammates after a win in an ICC men’s T20 World Cup cricket match against Pakistan at the Grand Prairie Stadium in Grand Prairie, Texas, Thursday, June 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)
Another member of the team, Ravi Timbawala, is a manager at Foothill Pharmacy in Rialto, California, according to his LinkedIn.
And, according to ESPN Cric Info, Nisarg Patel earned a master’s degree in pharmaceutical science before getting a job with a U.S. multinational pharmaceutical company’s branch in the United Kingdom.
This is kind of like the time an electrician from the Czech Republic struck out Shohei Ohtani in last year’s World Baseball Classic. But at least Japan won that game, 10-2.
To put this into perspective, imagine Pakistan beating Patrick Mahomes, Justin Jefferson, Myles Garrett and Christian McCaffery in a football game.
“Playing against Pakistan for the first time in the World Cup and beating them, it was an unbelievable performance,” U.S. captain Monank Patel said. “Beating Pakistan, you know, it’s a big achievement.”
The United States’ Nitish Kumar, third right, celebrates with teammates after taking the catch to dismiss Pakistan’s Iftikhar Ahmed during an ICC men’s T20 World Cup cricket match between the United States and Pakistan at the Grand Prairie Stadium in Grand Prairie, Texas, Thursday, June 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)
Cricket has a long but relatively little-known history in the United States. It’s the national sport in Pakistan, a long-time member of the cricket establishment and a three-time T20 World Cup finalist.
The U.S. will be back in action against India, another cricket powerhouse, Wednesday. Pakistan and India, perhaps the sport’s biggest rivalry which draws more viewers than the Super Bowl, will face off this weekend.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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