Ritwik Behera is not a household name at the moment, but could it be in the world of cricket in the future? Of course, the youngster is still in the early days of his career at the moment, but will he be able to fulfill the potential that many believe the Maryland native has in the game?

In this article, we will take a look at who Behera exactly is, provide a little background on the Indian-American, and look at whether he could potentially have an impact for the USA National Cricket Team in the future. Additionally, we will take a look at what the US’ chances are of qualifying for the next stage of the 2023 Cricket World Cup.

Who is Ritwik Behera?

So, who exactly is Ritwik Behera? His full name is Ritwik Rasananda Behera, and he is a 19-year-old player that is categorized as a batting allrounder. Born in Maryland to Indian immigrants, the teenager has been able to represent the USA National Cricket Team on only a couple of occasions, but there is certainly some appeal around his future in the game as he continues to develop.

The player has only had two matches in the colors of the USA so far, with it coming in a mini-series against Ireland which took place at Lauderhill in December 2021, therefore meaning it has been almost a year since we have seen him lining up for his adopted country.

In those games, he did not make too much of a contribution, as he managed to score 16 runs in the second of the two games after scoring 0 in the first, and returned figures of 0-5 when bowling according to stats provided by ESPN Cric Info’s website. Nonetheless, it is important to recognize that he managed to make an impression in the field, as he took two catches in both games to have been played; although that does not appear to have proved impressive enough at the moment for the National Team selectors.

At the club level, he is currently playing for the DC Hawks; a professional Twenty20 franchise team that plays in the Minor League Cricket system where he plays alongside the experienced Sunny Sohal who captains the team.

According to articles available on the internet, Behera became involved in cricket after his passion for the game was sparked when India, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh hosted the 2011 World Cup over a duration of six weeks.

Will Behera be able to get back to the USA team?

Indeed, there will be many that will be questioning whether Behera will be able to get back to the heights of American cricket and represent the US in the future; something that he will likely want to do himself.

Naturally, this is something that time will perhaps help answer, especially as the 19-year-old arguably still has around 15 years worth of playing time left in his career if he can remain healthy and stay at the highest level of his game.

However, there is no denying that he will need to be better in the future if he is to get a call-up for the US team, as they have shown strides of improvement in recent years. In fact, many in Behera’s home state of Maryland have noticed this as sports betting continues to take control in the state.

The USA cricket team has been able to put together a number of fine performances recently in their quest to qualify for the 2023 Cricket World Cup and with it possible to place bets with the Maryland Online Sportsbooks for the local population due to its legality, the teenager certainly has his work cut out.

However, while many are now placing bets on the national team and their pursuit of qualification to the sport’s major sporting competition, there may be some wondering just how far the team can go, and whether they will be able to qualify.

Can the USA achieve qualification for the 2023 Cricket World Cup?

As of the time of writing, the USA are continuing to do its best in order to achieve automatic qualification for the 2023 Cricket World Cup Qualifier by finishing in the top three of a seven-team group in the current 2019–2023 ICC Cricket World Cup League 2 competition.

The USA only has a handful of games left to play, with Behera missing out on the final squad for this competition, and they have been on a good run of form as they have been able to record impressive victories against the likes of Namibia and Papua New Guinea in the sport, thus further enhancing their chances of securing a place in the next stage of the qualification process.

However, one of the biggest concerns that the country may have is the fact that there are a number of teams below them that still have numerous games to play in the 2019–2023 ICC Cricket World Cup League 2.

While both Oman and Scotland are above them, the likes of Namibia, Nepal, UAE, and Papua New Guinea still have a large number of games to play where wins will propel them up the table and make life rather interesting for the USA.

Naturally, the country can only do what they can with the games that they are still involved in before sitting back and watching what happens in December, but there is no denying that they are doing everything that they can as of now in the games that they have remaining.

Final Thoughts

As mentioned, some will be keeping an eye on Behera’s progress in the coming years and whether he will have what it takes to return to the USA National Cricket Team. However, with the country playing rather well at the moment, a return does not look imminent, therefore it is perhaps down to the batting allrounder to ensure that he continues to play as well as he can at the club level and make a huge impression whenever he can.