Sanjay Krishnamurthi shined for USA with the bat against India A
He played an impactful cameo in the ICC T20 World Cup 2026 warm-up encounter
He represents San Francisco Unicorns in Major League Cricket
The warm-up fixtures of ICC T20 World Cup 2026 have commenced and in the second match, United States of America geared up for the mega-event by clashing with India A. Led by Ayush Badoni, the hosts came out victorious in the game as they beat USA by 38 runs in Navi Mumbai on Monday (February 2).
Narayan Jagadeesan scored a brilliant century which eventually helped India A win. USA were not entirely outplayed and the game was interesting for a long time.
ALSO READ: India A Vs USA Highlights
In response to India A's 238, USA scored 200. Andries Gous laid the foundation of USA's chase, and they received a boost when Sanjay Krishnamurthi played an explosive knock of 41 runs in just 18 deliveries. Entering the ICC T20 World Cup, Krishnamurthi is one of USA's biggest assets.
Who Is Sanjay Krishnamurthi?
Krishnamurthi is a spin-bowling all-rounder who plays for USA. He bats in the top-order in domestic cricket, and has grabbed eyeballs for his power-hitting and an ability to strike sixes in the middle overs. He can deliver some handy overs with his slow left-arm orthodox spin as well.
A US international currently, Krishnamurthi hails from Bengaluru. He started his cricket career through a cricket academy in the city and later played zonal cricket and also represented U-16 Level for Karnataka. Sanjay was born in the States but his family moved from Arizona to Bengaluru in 2011. But his citizenship remained intact.
Sanjay Krishnamurthi's Journey From Bengaluru To USA
Krishnamurthi was an OCI card holder and Karnataka made a rule that OCI cardholders can't play for the state. This meant he had to give up his US citizenship completely to play for India. Realising that it would be a very long process, Krishnamurthi looked elsewhere.
In 2019, the Major League Cricket trials were taking place and he was called first to Mumbai and then in Houston. His stay in USA was prolonged as the Covid-19 pandemic arrived.
Sanjay Krishnamurthi's Career So Far
His career changed at that juncture. He started playing for East Bay Blazers in Minor League Cricket and scored 872 runs from 42 matches. He also scalped 54 wickets. Krishnamurthi's performance earned him a call-up for the USA national cricket team in 2021. He made his debut against Nepal and since then, he has played 9 T20Is and 16 ODIs for USA.
Krishnamurthi was picked up by San Francisco Unicorns in Major League Cricket in 2024 and he has played a total of 20 matches for them. He made headlines in 2025, when he struck four sixes in one over of Rachin Ravindra. He has scored 422 runs in the MLC in the last two seasons.
Balancing Studies With Cricket Career
Despite being a professional cricketer, 22-year-old Krishnamurthi is a computer science student at San Jose University. He has also highlighted how USA has infrastructure for most sports and that the athletes get support from the college. But cricket is yet to reach that level of popularity and growth in USA.
“I remember thinking if only cricket can get to this level in the US that would be amazing,” Krishnamurthi told Forbes in an interview.
