National star Advaith Dhumal Rao takes American cricket by storm

By Staff Writers Gaura Amarnani and Veer Mahajan

Cricket bat resting lightly in his hands as he swings, Junior Advaith Dhumal Rao places his shot just between the fielders. The ball races along the pitch, breaking the barrier of the boundary. This isn’t the only barrier Rao has broken — he started playing cricket in 2018 at the age of nine, ultimately becoming the best Under 15 player in the country. Today, he trains for 10 to 20 hours a week in his rigorous training schedule. Much like a cricket game, his story is not a simple one — it’s full of twists, turns, and many challenges, but these have given him valuable skills, teaching him that cricket is “just all about balance” and turning him into a more balanced player and person.

Even in his early years of cricket, Rao developed an interest in playing the game seriously, often competing with players much older and stronger than he was. Unfortunately, in the 2022 and 2023 seasons, Rao was not picked for regional competitions, which added to an already stressful time for him personally. Despite the difficulties and doubts he faced, he decided to continue with cricket. This ultimately paid off; just one year later, in 2024, Rao was a top Under 15 performer. As coaches complimented his standout performance and recommended he employ his “good potential” in a professional setting, Rao decided cricket was something he truly wanted to pursue.

Rising to such a level is no easy task. With his rigorous workload, both in school courses and extracurriculars, Rao has many priorities to balance. He notes that, much like any activity, cricket “is just about making sacrifices,” but he finds these sacrifices fruitful. Exchanging time spent with friends and family for time batting in the nets can be costly to his relationships, but ultimately is just one sacrifice he must make. Recently, Rao was chosen as the youngest member of the semi-professional U21 minor league, though this meant he missed out on study time while working an intense regimen, leading to challenges in his school studies. Today, Rao achieves a healthy balance between all his priorities, succeeding in all areas.

Though growing in popularity and prestige, cricket remains a relatively uncommon sport in the US. Despite this, Rao attributes much of his success to the Bay Area community, where he says there are “a lot of coaches, a lot of good people to play with,” and that he “never really thought of it in a negative way.” At the same time, Rao recognizes and appreciates his teams, — he has always believed humility is a large part of being a good player and person — even remarking that he would “take a bullet for [his teammates] … I think they [would] take one for me.” These teammates have motivated him to play the game and supported him at every step, making that one of the experiences he’s most grateful for throughout his journey.

Over the course of so many years, Rao has grown not only as a player, but as a person. “You can be good one day and then you can do horrible the next day. So it’s just about staying true to yourself. You don’t put others down. Just enjoy the game.”