The Forgotten Dream for Jai Moondra That Came Alive Against India
Vaibhav Tripathi & Rohit Juglan
Go on Instagram and search for Mitchell Santner. The New Zealand white-ball captain, despite holding a central contract across all formats, has just two words in his bio: part-time cricketer. It’s classic Santner — self-deprecating and a little cheeky.
But away from the humour, there are cricketers for whom being “part-time” isn’t a punchline. It’s reality.
The most familiar face in that conversation is Saurabh Netravalkar. The Indian-born left-arm seamer became one of the stories of the T20 World Cup, juggling a full-time job in the United States of America with international cricket. In a country where cricket barely registers alongside mainstream sports, Netravalkar showed that chasing two careers at once isn’t just possible — it’s sometimes necessary. Fortunately for him, his employer backs his cricketing commitments whenever international duty calls.
More than 6,500 kilometres away, while Netravalkar was winning admirers on one side of the world, another story was quietly taking shape.
It belonged to another Indian-origin left-arm quick. Another cricketer who had left India, not to chase professional cricket, but to study, build a career and settle into a different life. Cricket had slowly become a weekend pursuit rather than a profession.
Then came India. Sanju Samson dragged one back onto his stumps. Shivam Dube chipped a return catch straight back. Jai Moondra wasn’t overawed by the occasion. He attacked with pace, shaped the ball both ways and cleverly mixed in slower deliveries when the conditions demanded it. Against the world champions, the 29-year-old looked like he belonged. What stood out most was his control and execution against the world champions.
There had been plenty of talk about whether he would be handed his debut, and now it has become one to remember for Irish cricket. Ireland beat India for the first time, and Moondra returned figures of 2/25. The left-arm pacer could easily have finished with three wickets had a catch not been dropped, and perhaps even claimed the Player of the Match award.
It wouldn’t be wrong to say that he is an accidental find for Ireland. Like many others, Moondra believed his cricketing career was over, especially after he moved to Ireland for work. Then something clicked. He started playing local cricket, and around 18 months ago came an opportunity that he grabbed with both hands.
“I ran a fast bowling clinic 18 months ago and credit to Jai he travelled across Dublin two nights a week and came in and trained with me for four months,” Ireland’s bowling coach Ryan Eagleson said in the post-match press conference. “A left-arm seamer is always a huge commodity in any form of cricket, especially T20 cricket.”
As many as six of Ireland’s first-choice seamers are currently injured. That opened the door for Moondra, and he made an instant impact.
Perhaps it was written in the stars for Moondra. Making his debut against India, the country of his birth, the 29-year-old left-arm pacer is now part of Irish cricket history.
“We’ve got six seamers out injured at the minute but in international cricket you need to have at least 10 or 12 seamers for back-up and competition for places,” Eagleson added. “Jai has been on our radar, but the way he came in today and did that job… we’ve watched him for Leinster Lightning over the last few years and he’s done an outstanding job with the new ball and at the back end.”
Moondra does not hold a central contract. His visa status is also tied to his employment and still needs to be resolved. But that is unlikely to be on his mind right now. Instead, he and his team will have another opportunity on Sunday to create even more history – by beating India on home soil.
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