Modani is Maharashtra’s loss, USA’s gain!

Most aspiring cricketers generally tend to keep their studies aside to pursue the sport professionally However former Maharashtra U15 allrounder Sushant Modani 32 a software engineer has done things differentlyModani who tried hard but failed to get into the state U17 U19 and senior teams gave up cricket in 2014 and took up a corporate job in Pune A couple of years later his employers transferred him to New York where he started playing club cricket in 2017 And five years later he has been selected to play ODI cricket for the USAldquoGetting the opportunity to play international cricket is a dream come true Itrsquos something Irsquove cherished since childhood I was very keen to play firstclass cricket for Maharashtra and even performed well at the U15 level in 2003 I also performed consistently in Punersquos Invitation League and other selection matches but never got the opportunity In 2011 after I completed my Bachelor of Engineering from Jawaharlal Nehru Engineering College Aurangabad I got a job offer but decided to give one more year to cricket But when I realised nothing was going to happen I was disheartened and took up a job in Pune in 2012 At that time I never even thought that Irsquod get to play professional cricket againrdquo Modani a middleorder batsman and offspinner told midday from New York recentlyldquoIn June 2016 my company transferred me to the US and the following year I began playing club cricket with some of the locals and Bangladeshi cricketers here I still do my 9to5 office job daily and keep the remaining time for cricketrdquo added Modani Recalling his childhood days when he represented Aurangabad district agegroup teams under coaches Dinesh Kunte and Vinod Mane Modani said Both Dinesh sir and Vinod sir worked on my basics in the early days During one summer vacation Vinod sir sent me to Secunderabad at former Test batsman ML Jaisimharsquos Cricket Academy where I was coached for a couple of months by Mirza Baig sir There I got a chance to see how the legendary VVS Laxman used to practice as he was in the same net as us Baig sir was a disciplinarian and we had to attend practice at 5 am every day and it went on till afternoon Baig sir wanted us to middle at least nine out of 10 balls Those few months I spent with Baig sir was the turning point for my cricketing career I still following his guidelines explained ModaniAlso Read Virat Kohli on listening to Ravi Shastri for first time My body shookIn the USA Modani has received a lot of support and encouragement from several cricketers from the West Indies Bangladesh and India one of them being former Mumbai leftarm pacer and current USA skipper Saurabh Netravalkar Riding on consistent performance while representing Houston Hurricane in the US Minor League Modani made it to the list of 44 probables for the national team And after a twomonth camp he made it to the final squad The team will be heading to Oman next week to participate in the ICC ODI World Cup qualifier tournamentldquoOur aim is to qualify for the 2023 ODI World Cup and play in India We are all working hard towards this goal under the guidance of our coach former Karnataka batsman J Arunkumarrdquo said ModaniMeanwhile coaches Kunte and Mane both acknowledged Modanirsquos efforts Sushant was a dedicated cricketer even at that early age when he was around 10 His performances were neglected by the Maharashtra Cricket Association but Maharashtrarsquos loss is USArsquos gain said Kunte from Aurangabad Mane added ldquoSushant has all the qualities a player needs at the highest level I am confident he will contribute a lot to the US team