Prime Minister Narendra Modi lauded the performance of the United States men’s cricket team during the ICC T20 World Cup held in the United States and West Indies this year. PM Modi was addressing an Indian diaspora event at the Nassau Coliseum in New York. “Some days back here, the T20 World Cup took place. The USA team played so well in that competition. That team had so many Indian people who are living here and their contributions were witnessed by the whole world.”

During the T20 WC 2024 held from June 1 to June 29 this year, the USA hosted a total of 16 matches, with matches taking place in New York’s Nassau County Stadium, including the contest between arch-rivals India and Pakistan, Texas’s Grand Prairie Stadium and Florida’s Central Broward Park.

USA delivered a fine performance in the tournament, finishing second in Group Stages with two wins and a loss. This included a win in Super Over over Pakistan in a thriller. They also gave a tough fight to India while defending a small total of 111 runs on a tricky surface.

Later in Super Eights, the USA lost all their three matches, but gave a good fight to finalists South Africa and lost by 18 runs while chasing 195. This was USA’s first World Cup appearance across 20 and 50 over formats.

Some big performers in the tournament for the USA included players who represented India in U19 level cricket. Saurabh Netravalkar took six wickets, including prized wickets of Indian stars Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, Pakistan wicketkeeper-batter Mohammed Rizwan and South African captain Aiden Markram.

Indian U19 bowler Harmeet Singh, who played the 2012 U19 WC for India and played domestic cricket for Mumbai, also played for the USA, taking four wickets and scoring 69 runs in four innings.

USA captain Monank Patel also scored a crucial half-century against Pakistan, taking his team to 159/3.

India won the tournament ending their ICC trophy drought after 11 years.

PM Modi arrived in New York in the second leg of his three-day visit to the United States. He attended Quad Summit on Saturday and had bilateral meetings with US President Joe Biden, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, and Japan PM Fumio Kishida.

Remember Paul Valthaty? The Indian batter had burst onto the scene in IPL 2011 for Kings XI Punjab, most notably scoring a brilliant century against Chennai Super Kings in just the ninth match of the season. After that season, Valthaty quickly faded into obscurity, and last played in the IPL in 2013. However, Valthaty is now in the news, having taken up a new coaching role. But it’s not in India, it’s in the USA, the country that is seemingly making a rapid rise in international cricket.

Now 40, Valthaty has been appointed the head coach of Minor League Cricket franchise Seattle Thunderbolts.

Valthaty broke through with a 63-ball 120 against CSK in IPL 2011; at that time, the second-highest individual IPL score by an Indian. He would go on to finish as the sixth-highest run-getter of IPL 2011, as Punjab narrowly missed the play-offs.

Valthaty had suffered an eye injury during the 2002 U19 World Cup. He announced his retirement from first-class cricket on 18 June, 2023.

What is Minor League Cricket?

Alongside the launch of Major League Cricket (MLC), USA Cricket opted to launch a developmental T20 league Minor League Cricket (MiLC) in 2021. MiLC is spread across many cities and states, with 26 teams divided into the northern, southern, central and western conferences.

Valthaty’s side, Seattle Thunderbolts, won the second season of MiLC in 2022. They play in the Western Conference.

“Seattle Thunderbolts have just added a big hitter to their lineup-off the field! We’re thrilled to announce that Paul Valthaty, the former Kings XI Punjab sensation, is now steering our ship as the Head Coach,” captioned the team in their announcement post on Instagram.

“With 3 half-centuries and a century in his kit bag, Valthaty knows how to turn singles into boundaries and sixes. Get ready for a power-packed season as we aim to knock it out of the park with Paul at the helm!” they added.