'Knew He Had That X-Factor': USA Skipper Recalls Junior Cricket Days With Jasprit Bumrah

Monank Patel will lead USA in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026. The 32-year-old right-handed wicketkeeper-batter, who was born in Anand, Gujarat, was named as USA’s captain for the upcoming 20-team tournament on January 30. Monak, who has played 71 ODIs and 43 T20Is for the United States, used to play with Jasprit Bumrah for Gujarat in junior cricket.

Back then, little did Monank knew that Bumrah would go on to become India’s greatest ever all-format bowler.

Reminiscing the good old junior cricket days in an interaction with news agency PTI, Monank took a trip down the memory lane when he dreamt of wearing the blue jersey albeit for India.

“Yeah, I have had great memories of playing with Axar (Patel) and Jasprit (Bumrah). I played my first year

of Gujarat U-19 with Jasprit and before that I played my U-16s with Axar. We (Bumrah and him) were together for a good two years, two seasons, playing a lot of games for the Gujarat team,” Monank said.

He remembers that Bumrah was a cut above the rest even then.

“We played both red-ball and white-ball cricket, and those were really special times. It was the early stage of my cricketing journey and even back then, the way we were playing , especially the way Jasprit was performing, we knew he had that X-factor and that he would definitely go on to do something great,” Monank fondly recollects.

In the USA team, Indo-Pak bonhomie still exists

The players of India and Pakistan might not be shaking hands on the field due to the prevailing hostile relationship between the cross-border neighbours.

But when Monank steps onto the field along with Pakistan-origin Ali Khan and batter Shayan Jahangir, they have only one flag to play for — The Star-Spangled Banner.

“There’s, no Indian, no Pakistani when you represent the USA. Everyone is representing the country, and, we have been playing since long and we are very close friends, very close teammates, and our goal is to make sure that we give our best, and stay committed.

“They (Ali and Jahangir) are our teammates. There’s no Indian, no Pakistani when it comes to cricket,” he said.

(With inputs from PTI)