By Admin 
Monank Patel Played With Jasprit Bumrah & Axar Patel For Gujarat: American cricket team captain Monank Patel has played as an under-19 cricketer for Gujarat one and a half decade ago. Monank Patel, who is preparing to play in the T20 World Cup 2026 to be jointly hosted by India and Sri Lanka, said, ‘Yes, I have very good memories of playing with Axar Patel and Jasprit Bumrah. I played my first year in Gujarat Under-19 with Jaspreet and before that I played Under-16 with Akshar. We (Bumrah and he) stayed together for two years, two seasons. Played many matches for Gujarat team.
What did Monank Patel say while remembering that time?
Monank Patel said, ‘We played both red and white ball cricket and it was really a very special time. This was the initial phase of my cricket journey and even then, the way we were playing, especially the way Jasprit was performing, we knew that he had that X factor and he would definitely do something big.
The path to international cricket was not easy for Monank. When he decided to go to America permanently in the year 2013, he had thought of leaving cricket, although he had got the green card in the year 2010 itself.
He further said, ‘I had a green card since 2010 and after 2013 I decided that I wanted to go to America. My family was already planning to settle there. Monank said, ‘I tried to stay there for a month or two and then came back to India and after making a last attempt to play for Gujarat in the Ranji Trophy. When I did not get that opportunity, I decided to go back to America and settle there forever.
Monank also did restaurant business
Monank Patel turned to the restaurant business but always had an association with cricket. He said, ‘When I went to America, my vision and goal was not just to play cricket. I wanted to start my own business because cricket is not even a top 10 sport in America. After this I decided to fully engage with it professionally, which was not easy.