The United States were well poised to reach the T20 Cricket World Cup second round on Wednesday, despite their seven-wicket loss to India, who reached the Super Eight along with Australia and South Africa.

India, who were chasing 111 to win the Group A clash, were stunned by Mumbai-born fast bowler Saurabh Netravalkar, who had superstar Virat Kohli caught behind for nought off the first ball he faced.

India’s captain Rohit Sharma was then caught by another Mumbai-born player Harmeet Singh at mid-off, again off Netravalkar’s bowling in the third over.

India were rattled at 15-2 and then 44-3 before Suryakumar Yadav (50) and Shivam Dube (31) put on an undefeated fourth-wicket stand of 67 to secure a third win in three games for Rohit’s team with 10 balls to spare.

Left-arm seamer Netravalkar was also the hero for the US last Friday when they shocked Pakistan in Dallas. He was among five Indian-origin players who played big roles in the match. Three of them have cricketing roots in India and migrated to the US to play regular international cricket.

The 32-year-old, who holds a US H1B visa (for workers in specialty occupations), developed his interest in cricket thanks to his father Naresh in Mumbai. He represented India Under-19s in the 2010 World Cup and made his Ranji Trophy debut for Mumbai in 2013, but decided to study computer science at Cornell University in New York in 2015 after he failed to secure a permanent berth in the Mumbai side.

According to his father, when Netravalkar left Mumbai, he had not even carried his bowling shoes. “He saw a few people playing cricket near where he stayed,” said Naresh. “He played the game as a pastime. Look at his destiny – the US got a chance to play in this World Cup as the hosts, and Saurabh got a chance to represent them.”

After Pakistan lost to the US, the popular take was the Test-playing nation lost to India B.

Leading from the front was captain Monank Patel, 31, who won the Player of the Match award for his half-century.

He grew up in Anand, near Ahmedabad, and failed to make the India Under-19 grade. Disenchanted, he moved to the US in 2014 and became a restaurateur. But tossing noodles in woks at Teriyaki Madness, his restaurant in New Jersey, was not something he relished. He sold the restaurant and focused on cricket again. Soon after, former US coach J. Arunkumar recognised his talents and roped him into the team.

Spinner Nosthush Kenjige, 33, who took three wickets against Pakistan, was born in Alabama, where his father Pradeep did his master’s in agriculture. When he was just two months old, the family returned to the quaint coffee-town of Chikkamagaluru in Karnataka. Nosthush developed an interest in cricket and played at the league level in Bengaluru, before beginning his life anew in Virginia as a biological technician.

Nosthush began playing in local leagues in the US. He then did community service for 800 hours a year to become eligible to represent the US.

Left-arm spinner Harmeet Singh, 31, whose bowling action is likened to Indian legend Bishan Singh Bedi, left India as a shattered man after setbacks and rejection, including an alleged match-fixing scandal that he was eventually cleared of.

The Mumbai-born Harmeet moved to the US in 2020, when he received an offer from USA Cricket, who back then were recruiting overseas players to play for them soon after getting one-day international status.

Batsman Milind Kumar, who took a blinder in the Super Over when the US beat Pakistan, previously represented Delhi and Sikkim in India before quitting his oil-and-gas job and flying to Houston, were he played league cricket.

A veteran of 46 first-class games with IPL experience, the 33-year-old Delhi-born Milind was a substitute against Pakistan, but left his imprint on the game with an acrobatic catch to consume Iftikhar Ahmed in the Super Over.

Nitish Kumar, whose last-ball four tied the game against Pakistan, was born in Ontario, Canada, but moved to the US during the pandemic.

“Toronto had one of the longest lockdowns in the world. There was nothing going on in terms of cricket,” he told ESPNcricinfo. “To be fair, I’ve always dreamt about playing cricket. And I’m someone that’s 100 per cent in; I’m not going to do 50-50.”

So he shifted to the US in 2020. In four years, he did enough with the bat for the US team to earn the nickname “Tendulkar”.

And then there are all-rounders Jasdeep Singh and Nisarg Patel, both of whom began their cricketing journey in India before moving to the US.

Nisarg, 36, has not yet played a match at the T20 World Cup but is “very excited” that the US are playing so well.

“There’s nothing bigger for players than to play in the World Cup,” he told the Times of India. “We have played against Ireland many times and also against Canada. But playing against big teams – Pakistan and India – is a different experience altogether. This is special for us.”