Unmukt Chand prefers to play for country rather than IPL

The first half of 2017/18 season was a testing one for promising batsman Unmukt Chand in the domestic fold in nutshell. After losing his place in the playing XI of Delhi Ranji Trophy team in the recently concluded edition, he was dropped from the side for the league stage of Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy Twenty20 competition only to make a comeback for the Super League stage.

However, he was warming for the first two games and on his comeback, before registering a duck against Uttar Pradesh. Captain trusted Unmukt and gave him a chance in the final, where he played a match winnings innings of 53 to lead Delhi to a title victory against Rajasthan on January 26 in Kolkata.

The innings helped Unmukt to keep his place in the side and he was selected for the Vijay Hazare Trophy too.

On the eve of the first game, the former U19 captain suffered a broken jaw after being hit by a ball but that did not keep him out of the game. Unmukt opted to play and scored a gritty century, battling all the odds.

He has seen many ups and down in his career. From being hailed as the next Virat Kohli to disappearing in domestic cricket, Unmukt has had difficult times in past couple of seasons.

The biggest surprise came in 2016/17 season when he was dropped from Delhi team for Vijay Hazare Trophy and went unsold in IPL auction too. He has regained this place in stateside but went unsold in IPL auction once again, last month.

Unmukt could have been part of the last IPL but he himself opted to leave Mumbai Indians as he was not getting many games to play. The 24-year-old batsman thinks that the lack of T20 games he played this season was reason behind him going unsold in this year’ auction,

“To be very honest, it was a deliberate decision to leave Mumbai Indians. I did not get many games. To me, playing games were very important rather than sitting on the bench in the IPL. So I had opted for Mumbai Indians and unfortunately, I did not get selected in the IPL auction two years in a row. I did not get many games in this season’s T20 tournament; it should not have happened. The scouts were there but I did not get chances, and they could not see me. These things hurt but I have had enough of these in my short career so far. I know IPL will come again, and when you have a bigger goal, you can get over these things. Playing for the country is more important,” Unmukt told ESPNcricinfo.

The ongoing Vijay Hazare Trophy is a crucial one for Unmukt. Some good performances in this tournament can put him back in the contention to be selected in the India A team.

Selectors too have always preferred him as he used to lead India A on almost every occasion he played, even when senior players were part of the side.

The ball is in now Unmukt’s court and he has to answer with his bat, so as to become the talk of the town, again.

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