The 2024 U19 (Under 19) World Cup from Jan 19 to Feb 11 showcased the most talented up-and-coming cricket stars in the world. The USA national team announced on December 27 a 15-man squad including Amador’s Aryaman Suri (‘24).
Ever since he was eight years old, Suri has been a fan of cricket. From learning the sport, to his dad to participating in local leagues, such as the National California Cricket Association (NCCA), cricket has always been in his life.
“My first big tournament came in 2018 when I went to England for three weeks. Slowly I saw that this is something where I want to go. Once I saw the competitiveness, I was like, ‘you know what, this is somewhere where I kind of want to put my head down and keep playing these tournaments and get more exposure,’” said Suri.
In June, Los Angeles hosted a U19 Nationals Championship consisting of six zones, with Suri being part of the West Zone. After playing many matches and slowly making himself more prominent, Suri got opportunities to play on higher levels.
“We had the under 17 national championship which took place in the middle of October. I got selected for that and I did really well there. They asked me to stay back for the under 19 camp and I performed well. Then I went to Trinidad and Tobago in the West Indies as part of the US U19 team and I performed well there too. Then I got the final letter saying I’m selected for the U19 World cup team,” said Suri.
Balancing school and sports on a national level hasn’t been easy, but Suri proved it can be done through countless years of hard work and dedication.
“Getting into the U19 World cup for cricket, whatever country it might be, takes a lot of work ethic and determination. He’s definitely gotten more mature over time. He knows that cricket will take him far, and it will,” said Harsha Kumar (‘24).
The future of Suri is bright as there is still time for him to develop into a star athlete. For now, the goal is to keep practicing cricket and to keep getting better.
“My goal is obviously for me to have another World Cup cycle with the USA U19 team because I’m pretty young. While doing all this, I still want to keep my academics up and everything, but I think it’s just making it to the highest level I can here in the US and then hopefully getting scouted by international leagues,” said Suri.
