Reza Khan is overjoyed after Saurabh's probing spell that dismissed Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma. Khan, the owner of the North American Cricket League indoor centre, has just ordered a 12x12 poster of Saurabh Netravalkar that he plans to mount at his academy. After all, it is at his facility that Netravalkar trains.

"He would bowl 50 inswingers, 50 outswingers, 50 bouncers," Reza recalled. "Sometimes he'd just keep on bowling until he hits that right spot on the wicket. He is a perfectionist. I think he has this app to note down things that he did at practice, which areas did he hit and the frequency with which he'd hit those spots. He trains very meticulously. It's not just about the skill aspect. He runs a lot too. He runs in the rain too. It is mad perseverance," Reza further added.

It was as if his rigorous penance had paid off. Much like a blockbuster Broadway debut of an actor who had rehearsed his heart out for years in search of his crowning moment. Netravalkar too was putting up a show of his own 30 miles east of Broadway in front of a near-packed audience. "That is my stock ball," responded Netravalkar when asked upon how long back did he think of bowling that first ball outswinger to Kohli. The very stock ball that squared up Mohammad Rizwan in his first over in Dallas. The very stock ball Khan had observed being perfected over many moons.

Netravalkar knew Kohli likes to get a feel of the leather early on and lean into his favourite shot. He had laid the perfect bait. It was Netravalkar's stock ball vs Kohli's bread and butter shot. That teasing outswinger trumped Kohli's trademark punch in what is only his first golden duck in his 6th T20 World Cup appearance. Next up he bowled a benign outswinger to Rishabh Pant but followed that up with an inswinger that cut Pant in half, missing the stumps by a whisker.

"He was running hot. He was full of confidence after the Super over against Pakistan as well. He bowled beautifully in that game also. And look, he got the ball to do a bit. That ball that nearly bowled Rishabh Pant, if that had happened there and then, we know we could have been sitting here telling a different story. But look, he's a class act. Call him the Iceman now after that Super over. And look, when he's running hot like that, one more wicket at that stage could have been the difference," said Stuart Law, the USA head coach after the game.

In the next over, Netravalkar not only outfoxed Sharma but outwitted the legendary Ricky Ponting in the commentary box as well. "Change of field gully now comes out to mid wicket will look to push that first ball across to that catching midwicket now expecting to try and shape this one back in," predicted Ponting before Sharma's dismissal. Netravalkar played a well-camouflaged bluff. Instead of the indipper, Netravalkar bowled a scrambled seam delivery that went away for the right-hander to get the leading edge.

"There was a little bit of seam movement. So I was trying to mix up my inswing and angled seam which I didn't know if he would go out or in. So that's good. Right? So there's some unpredictability," said Netravalkar.

The performance against Pakistan mustered millions of eyeballs for Netravalkar, but to hoodwink two of India's greatest batsmen within the space of 6 balls will make all the 1.4 billion of them tip their hat to him.

Source: Saurabh Netravalkar's stocks rise after giant scalps | Cricbuzz.com