Unmukt Chand, who led the India U-19 cricket team to a World Cup win in 2012, called time on his India career and retired from ‘Indian cricket’ on Friday (August 13). He has signed a three-year deal with Major League Cricket and has moved to the USA. One of the most high-profile additions to the tournament, Unmukt will join his former U-19 teammates Smit Patel and Harmeet Singh there.
Unmukt once looked certain to don the India cap and came close to the national selection on multiple occasions. In 2013, he made it to the 30-member squad for the ICC Champions Trophy and was also included in the probable squad for T20 World Cup 2014. He missed out on both occasions.
Once a regular member of India A, Unmukt led the side for nearly 3 years. But he didn’t play for India A after 2016 and was also dropped from Delhi’s Vijay Hazare Trophy squad next year. Even though he made his comeback, Unmukt didn’t become a regular member of the team and moved to Uttarakhand in 2019. He returned to Delhi for the 2020/21 season but wasn’t included in the playing XI. He last played IPL in 2016.
Speaking to ESPNcricinfo, Unmukt has said that the lack of opportunities in India was the reason behind him switching to the USA and that he gets emotional on realising that he won’t be able to play for India again.
“These last few years have been tough. But I wasn’t going to give up on cricket completely. If I wasn’t getting enough opportunities to play in India, where were the next four or five crucial years of my career going to go? I still get emotional imagining that I will never get to play for India again. But I have made some special memories while playing in India,” he told ESPNcricinfo.
Unmukt will be playing for Silicon Valley Strikers and will also be in action in Minor League today (August 14). Should he complete the three-year residency qualification period, Unmukt will also be eligible to play for the USA cricket team.
Saurabh Netravalkar, who also played for India U-19, is the most high-profile India-born player to play for the USA.
