Unmukt Chand Confirms Signing A Three-Year Deal With Major League Cricket In USA
Published - 14 Aug 2021, 02:01 AM | Updated - 23 Aug 2024, 12:51 AM
Former India U19 captain Unmukt Chand, who led the team to the Youth World Cup win in 2012 in Australia, had recently announced his retirement from cricket in India on August 13, 2021. He has posted a lengthy note on his social media thanking the BCCI, the DDCA, his coaches, friends, and other people who helped and supported him in his journey.
Unmukt had a brilliant start to his career especially his unbeaten century in the final of the 2012 U19 World Cup helped India lift the trophy, beating the hosts in the title contest. He became a huge name overnight and people compared him to Virat Kohli, who had led India to the U19 title four years previously.
However, it proved to be a huge task for Chand, who tried his best to break into the Indian team and was a constant feature in the India A team, even as the captain for a long time. His time in the Indian Premier League (IPL) wasn’t as eventful as he would have liked, despite playing for three franchises in Rajasthan Royals, Delhi Capitals, and Mumbai Indians.
Unmukt Chand Confirms Move To USA Cricket And Signing A Deal With Major League Cricket
Chand reasoned that he wanted to salvage his dream of playing international cricket and that he will continue to find opportunities overseas. There were speculations that Unmukt would be joining his former India U-19 teammates, Smit Patel, and Harmeet Singh, in the USA.
Well, now Unmukt has confirmed that he has moved to the USA and is looking to play good cricket in America.
“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,” Unmukt told Cricbuzz.
“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,” he added.
Chand believes the trigger point that made him retire from Indian cricket was when he wasn’t given a single game this year by Delhi.
“Things like that hurt you as a player. When certain players who lack a certain pedigree play ahead of you then it feels like a slap on your face. I’ve never gotten the support I’ve yearned from DDCA all these years. I’ve been ousted from the team multiple times for no fault of mine,” he said.
Chand last captained India A in a series in 2016. All the other players part of the series went on to play for India, except Chand.
