From Club Cricket to the T20 World Cup: How Two American Players Made the Climb

From Club Cricket to the T20 World Cup: How Two American Players Made the Climb

On February 13, 2026, in Chennai, Saiteja Mukkamalla made 79 off 51 balls as the United States beat the Netherlands by 93 runs at the T20 World Cup.

Two days later, at the same ground, Sanjay Krishnamurthi hit 68 not out off 33 balls against Namibia, with six sixes and four fours. The USA made 199 for 4, their highest total at a men’s T20 World Cup, and won by 31 runs.

In 2021, both had played in the same national youth tournament in the United States. This is how each of them got from that tournament to Chennai.

Where they started

Mukkamalla took up cricket after watching the 2011 World Cup. His family had moved to the United States from Andhra Pradesh in 1997, and apart from a year of training in Hyderabad in 2018, he developed as a player here.

Krishnamurthi was born in Oregon and spent much of his childhood in Arizona and in Bangalore, India, before his family settled in the Bay Area in 2020. He studied computer science at San Jose State University.

In 2021 both played at USA Cricket’s Under-19 National Championship. Mukkamalla, playing for the Mid-Atlantic Zone, was named Player of the Tournament. Krishnamurthi, for West Zone Reds, was the leading wicket-taker. Both were then named to a 26-player national Under-19 training group, picked from the tournament by USA Cricket’s National Youth Selection Panel, which worked with national youth coaches ahead of ICC Under-19 qualification.

What came next

That summer, Krishnamurthi was picked in Minor League Cricket’s June 2021 draft, and Mukkamalla joined the New Jersey Stallions, the team he still plays for.

Their international debuts followed quickly. Krishnamurthi played his first one-day international for the USA in September 2021, against Nepal. Mukkamalla’s came in May 2022, against Scotland.

In 2023 both joined Major League Cricket teams: Mukkamalla the Texas Super Kings, where he has spoken of learning from captain Faf du Plessis and coach Stephen Fleming, and Krishnamurthi the San Francisco Unicorns. The same year, Mukkamalla made an unbeaten 120 off 114 balls against the UAE in a World Cup Qualifier playoff. In July 2024, Krishnamurthi made 79 not out off 42 balls to help the Unicorns chase 177 against the Washington Freedom.

Both went through the same stages in the same order: the national Under-19 tournament, Minor League Cricket, the USA side, then Major League Cricket. Other American players are going through the same competitions now.

The stages, and who runs them

For a parent, it helps to know that these stages are run by different organizations.

Club and academy cricket. Local leagues, academies and school programs, run independently across the country.

USA Cricket’s youth program. USA Cricket, the national governing body, runs the Under-19 National Championship, which it describes as “a key stage within USA Cricket’s National Pathway structure,” and selects national youth squads for ICC competition. In 2025 the Championship was played at the Prairie View Cricket Complex in Texas, with four regional teams.

Minor League Cricket. A national T20 league that describes itself as the development league for Major League Cricket. Both leagues are backed by American Cricket Enterprises. When Minor League Cricket explained its model in 2022, it said team rosters were structured to include designated Under-19 and Under-21 players.

The national team and Major League Cricket. The USA national team is selected by USA Cricket. Major League Cricket is a professional T20 franchise league. Both players above played for the USA before they joined Major League Cricket teams.

Others coming through

Rishi Ramesh, from the Dallas area, captained the USA at the 2024 ICC Under-19 World Cup. He is playing Minor League Cricket this season for the MetroPlex Tracers.

Arjun Mahesh, also from the Dallas area, was a reserve for the USA squad at the 2024 Under-19 World Cup and was named in the USA squad for the 2026 Under-19 World Cup.

Also in the same line-ups

The MetroPlex Tracers also include two players who have reached Major League Cricket: brothers Matthew and Joshua Tromp, originally from Gauteng, South Africa. On July 12, 2026, Matthew made 58 not out off 28 balls for the Los Angeles Knight Riders against the Texas Super Kings and was named Player of the Match. Joshua was retained by the Texas Super Kings for the 2025 season.

Minor League Cricket also brings players at different stages together. On Sunday, September 20, 2026, six members of the USA’s T20 World Cup squad played Minor League matches, in the same scorecards as players still working their way up.

What parents can take from this

The stages are visible. The national Under-19 tournament and Minor League Cricket are public competitions with published results, and USA Cricket announces its national youth training groups publicly.

Cricket and study. Krishnamurthi played for the USA and in Major League Cricket while studying computer science at San Jose State University.

Facilities. Mukkamalla, remembering his early years: “When I was younger, I remember we used to play only on astro [pitches] and the grass used to be as tall as my knees.” And now: “From just one turf ground, we have around ten turf grounds across the country.”

Check the current rules. Selection and registration processes change. For national youth programs, go to USA Cricket; for Minor League Cricket, the league’s own site has a player registration page.

A note on our numbers

We are tracking youth players in this season’s Minor League Cricket and would like to report how many there are. The squad lists we have seen do not include dates of birth, so we are confirming ages player by player and will report a figure only when we can stand behind it.

If we have anything wrong in this article, please tell us at youthcricketusa@gmail.com. Corrections are welcome.

Sources