'I think it was a very painful call' - Unmukt Chand opens up after bidding adieu to Indian cricket

The 2012 U19 World Cup-winning captain of India, Unmukt Chand has signed a three-year deal with the USA’s Major League Cricket (MLC) after having ended his cricketing career in India. For every cricketer, wearing the Indian blues is a dream and it was no different for Unmukt as well. He had turned many heads by displaying his flair in the Under-19 cricket.

Unmukt Chand smashed an impressive unbeaten 111 to sail the Indian team to victory in the U19 World Cup final. He then was given the mantle of being the captain of the India A side, which pinned his hopes to become a part of the Indian team soon.

After hitting two consecutive centuries in the Syed Mushtaq Ali trophy he was expected to be included in the India-West Indies ODI series in 2014 but things didn’t turn out that way. Chand, however, has had his shares of ups and downs as he stated that it is extremely painful to take the call of bidding adieu to Indian cricket.

“It’s a tough one for someone like me, who has always dreamed of playing for the country. And most of it very emotional one as well and obviously, having played every other cricket, except for the senior team, I think it was a very painful call. But then the last few years have not been very kind to me in terms of facing a lot of association politics among other things. I’ve not been able to play a lot of cricket because of such things and that is why I arrived at this decision, to play some good cricket here in the US. I’d finally like to thank the BCCI for their support over the years in making me the cricketer I am today,” Chand told Cricbuzz.

I have 10 solid years of cricket left in me: Unmukt Chand

Chand pointed out that what made him take this decision was that he did not get a single game to play this year by Delhi. He had last skippered India A side in 2016. The other players who were part of the series went on to play for the country except for Chand. He then was dropped from the Delhi one day side later in the year. Chand thus expressed the eagerness to play cricket and stated the goal of playing the sport doesn’t change for him.

“I am only 28. I have 10 solid years of cricket left in me. I wasn’t getting a lot of game time in India in the past couple of years. The means may have changed but the goal is still the same to be the batsman I can be and play international cricket.” Chand added.