NEW DELHI: Andy Flower, the former Zimbabwe cricketer and current head coach of Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB), praised the performance of United States pacer Saurabh Netravalkar during the ongoing ICC T20 World Cup.
Flower stated that Netravalkar's stocks have "gone through the roof" due to his impressive performances in the tournament.
The United States, co-hosting the T20 World Cup alongside West Indies, has emerged as the most remarkable and heartwarming success story of the competition. In their debut World Cup appearance, the USA reached the Super Eight stage, securing victories against former champions Pakistan and putting up strong fights against India and South Africa.
While their qualification for the semifinals depends on their performance in the remaining Super Eight matches against England and West Indies, reaching the final eight is a significant milestone for associate cricket teams striving for full member status within the International Cricket Council (ICC), which would grant them access to Test cricket.
Netravalkar has been instrumental in the USA's success, claiming six wickets at an impressive average of 12.16 and an economy rate of 5.21, with his best bowling figures being 2/18.
His wickets in the tournament include notable players such as India's Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, Pakistan's Mohammed Rizwan, and South African captain Aiden Markram. Netravalkar's background as a software engineer with Oracle and a former Indian U19 player has added to the intrigue surrounding his story in this World Cup.
"Well, his stocks have flown through the roof, I think. I must say I enjoyed working with him in the ILT20 (Netravalkar was signed by Gulf Giants in International League T20 in UAE). Smart guy and very skilful and a great man around the team. Very independent and self-managed. So, without a doubt, people will be looking at this and thinking, he has a left-arm swing bowler that can also bowl at the death for us," ANI quoted Flower as saying to ESPNCricinfo.
On whether he could play for RCB in the Indian Premier League (IPL), Flower said, "USA player, overseas player, mate, you never know with these skills. Get him up against some of those Indian right-handers in the IPL."
