Desi Talk

www.desitalk.com – that’s all you need to know 22 LIFESTYLE/ SPORTS June 12, 2026 S aurabh Netravalkar played a key part in U.S. cricket’s finest mo- ment when they stunned Pakistan at the 2024 T20World Cup, but the software engineer is keen to prove himself on an even bigger stage when Los Angeles hosts the Olympics in two years’ time. Netravalkar thought he was done with cricket after leaving India to study in the United States in 2015. The former India under-19 interna- tional gradually resumed playing on a recreational level before entering club cricket and he debuted for the U.S. in 2019, three years after landing a job at Oracle. For years, his work colleagues had no idea he was travelling around the country on the weekends to play in tournaments. The fast bowler’s life story, and the famous victory he led the U.S. team to in their maiden Twenty20World Cup cam- paign, have inspired a documentary set to be aired byWillow TV this month. “The Long Game: Saurabh Netra- valkar, Between TwoWorlds” is directed by Pierre ‘Pyare’ Friquet and chronicles Netravalkar’s journey in the fields of tech and cricket, the highlight being the ‘Super Over’ where his tight bowling led the U.S. to a landmark victory against former champions Pakistan. Climactic moments in the match are shown in parallel with key events in Netravalkar’s life, recreating his memories through animation. -Reuters M anav Suthar’s dream test debut concluded with India registering their biggest test victory – by an innings and 300 runs against Afghanistan – inside three days of the one-off test in New Chandigarh on Monday. The hosts piled up 564-8 before de- claring their first innings and unleashing their spin-heavy attack on Afghanistan. Left-arm spinner Suthar claimed 6-33 as India bundled out Afghanistan for 152 in the first innings before enforcing the follow-on. India off-spinnerWashington Sundar (4-36) did most of the damage in Afghani- stan’s second innings as the visitors folded for 112. Sharafuddin Ashraf did not bat with a quad injury. “A complete win from our side, ticked all the boxes, so very happy,” India captain Shubman Gill said after the win. “It was very hot. We decided that if we bowl them out by lunch or around the first drinks break in the second innings we will ask them to bat again,” Gill said of his decision to enforce the follow-on. “For the spinners it was more about getting the experience of how to set up the batters.” Earlier, Afghanistan lost their last five wickets in the morning session of the third day itself after resuming their first innings on 113-5. Rahmat Shah (60) led their resistance in the first innings with a composed knock that included nine fours and a six. Player-of-the-match Suthar, who had already removed Ashraf caught behind, bowled Rahmat round the legs to com- plete a five-wicket haul. -Reuters By Chiranjit Ojha Cricket-Netravalkar Juggles Tech Job While Chasing Olympic Dream Cricket-Suthar Makes Dream Debut In India’s Largest Test Victory Saurabh Netravalkar Manav Suthar PHOTO: INSTAGRAM @SAURABH_NETRA PHOTO: INSTAGRAM @MANAV_SUTHAR Love Coffee? Have The Last Cup At This Time For A Better Night’s Sleep H ow long does caffeine stay in my system? If I drink an afternoon cup or two, will it mess with my sleep? Java lovers, you may be in for a brewed awak- ening. A 2023 randomized trial published in the New England Journal of Medicine found that people who drank one or more cups of coffee each day lost on average 36 minutes of sleep compared with those who didn’t over a two-week period. There’s a catch though: People who were assigned to drinking coffee were also more active, taking an average of 1,000 more steps – the equivalent of walking about half a mile – per day than those randomized to the no-coffee group. The researchers speculated that perhaps the boost in activity is part of why coffee has consistently been shown to have many health benefits, including maybe even for longevity. That trade-off between energy and sleep is something many of us coffee drinkers know intimately. Miscalculate, and you can end up “tired and wired”- a miserable state of mind I was in too often during medical training, living cup to cup. Here’s the good news: You don’t need to quit. But you may need to move up your last cup to much earlier in the day than you think. Rather than the vague advice we’ve all heard to avoid coffee “close to bedtime,” researchers now have a more specific number. A 2023 meta-analysis of 24 studies on the effect of a standard cup of coffee (about 100 milligrams of caffeine) found that for the best night’s sleep, you need to finish drinking coffee at least nine hours or so before you sleep. So if you’re in bed by 10 p.m., your last cup should be by 1 p.m. Oof. My guess is that’s earlier than a lot of us have been operating. (I’m looking especially at you, my four-cups- and-counting-per-day friends). Otherwise, the study found, coffee could reduce total sleep time by 45 minutes and increase how long it takes to fall asleep – or the sleep onset latency – by around nine minutes. (And for context, sleep onset latency of less than 30 minutes is the goal.) WHY SOME PEOPLE CAN DRINK COFFEE IN THE EVENING Avoiding coffee nine hours before bedtime is a solid, general guideline, but as with anything in medicine, each of us responds a bit differently. Older studies looking at the half-life of caffeine in our systems found that it varies from two to 10 hours, depending on the individual. Some of the variation is written in your DNA. Scientists have identified several genes involved in how quickly we metabolize caffeine and how caffeine activates our brain’s reward system. The CYP1A2 gene controls how quickly your liver processes caffeine, while the ADORA2A gene encodes an adenosine receptor in the brain, which regulates how sensitive you are to coffee’s stimulating ef- fects. Variants in the ADORA2A gene are associated with why some people feel anxious after coffee (*raises hand*) – and why some people experience more insomnia than others after the same cup. So that friend who’s sipping their after-dinner espresso at 9 p.m. and still sleeps beautifully? Thank (or envy) their genes. You may assume that regular coffee drinking could build a tolerance, eventually overcoming the sleep ef- fects. However, the data supporting this in humans is surprisingly scarce – despite being popularly believed. HOW MUCH COFFEE IS TOO MUCH COFFEE? The U.S. Food and Drug Administration advises adults to consume no more than 400 milligrams of caffeine per day, and not all cups are created equal. For instance, a medium iced latte from Dunkin’ has about 166 mil- ligrams of caffeine and a grande Nitro Cold Brew from Starbucks has about 280 milligrams of caffeine. A typical Keurig pod contains 75 to 150 milligrams per eight-ounce cup. A randomized controlled trial in adult men found that, on average, a 100-milligram dose of caffeine consumed four hours before bedtime had little impact on sleep whereas a 400-milligram dose consumed 12 hours before bedtime had an impact. So if you crave an afternoon cup, switch to a less potent option to minimize the chances you’ll get the receipts at bedtime. WHAT I WANT MY PATIENTS TO KNOW Coffee is one of those wonderful rarities that sci- ence keeps finding reasons to love. Because it’s such a regular part of our daily lives, making some tweaks to how and when we drink it can have an outsize impact on our health in the long term. It may not just be sleep that benefits frommorning coffee drinking: In one study, people who restricted their coffee drinking to the morning hours seemed to have a mortal- ity benefit compared with those who drank throughout the day. A disrupted circadian rhythm, which plays an important role in inflammation and your im- mune system, is thought to be at least one possible contribu- tor. Trisha Pasricha is an instructor of medicine at Harvard Medical School. -Special to TheWashington Post By Trisha Pasricha, MD, MPH Photo:TheWashington Post