The world cup winning captain and once considered as India’s next big thing, Unmukt Chand became a hot topic of discussion recently. Moreover, he announced his retirement from playing cricket in India On August 13. Notably, Unmukt Chand led India towards victory in the final of the Under-19 cricket world cup 2012. Also, he is now settled in San Francisco and will play cricket for Minor League Cricket’s (MLC) Silicon Valley Strikers.
T2- On to the next innings of my life #JaiHind🇮🇳 pic.twitter.com/8yK7QBHtUZ
— Unmukt Chand (@UnmuktChand9) August 13, 2021
In an exclusive interview with Sportskeeda, Unmukt Chand admitted that he didn’t get enough game time in India. Chand highlighted that he didn’t get to play even one game for Delhi last season. He further added that it was mental torture for him, sitting out and undeserving guys playing. Unmukt Chand said:
” Well yeah, the last couple of years have been a bit tough on me. Last season, I didn’t get a single game for Delhi. And then again the same regime, I didn’t know whether I’ll get a game again or not. There were so many ‘if nots’, concerns with the domestic cricket in India right now. So I didn’t want to go through the same process, it was a mental torture for me to see myself sitting out and xyz playing the games, who I wouldn’t even consider in my club teams.”
Unmukt Chand further added that he didn’t want to waste his time waiting for his turn to come. As he has got a limited number of years left in cricket. He stated:
“So these things happen and the whole purity goes away. It just didn’t make sense and I just didn’t want to waste anymore time thinking whether these guys will play or not. So when these things start happening, you are just not into it then. Obviously I have got limited number of years and I got to play good cricket, and staying in limbo is a very, very bad place to be in.”
🔥 NEWS: @UnmuktChand9 has joined Major League Cricket with a multi-year agreement to play & support the growth of cricket in 🇺🇸.
Unmukt joins the @sv_strikers for this #MinorLeagueCricket season and will play this weekend!
Welcome, Unmukt! ➡️ https://t.co/COuICeJYU6 pic.twitter.com/B14nlN4d0Z
— Minor League Cricket (@MiLCricket) August 13, 2021
“After that last season, it was really terrible to be very honest”: Unmukt Chand
Chand was questioned whether missing out on every game for Delhi in the 2021 Vijay Hazare Trophy was the final nail in the coffin. To which he completed agreed. He further added that due to no cricket happening in India due to lockdown he decided to explore opportunities. Unmukt Chand elaborated:
“100 percent. I knew about things happening everywhere else but I never thought about this, but then yeah it just made me come and see how things are [in the US]. Because as it is nothing was happening in India, there was lockdown, so there was no cricket happening. But then yeah, after that last season, it was really terrible to be very honest. I didn’t want to live it again. That was it.”
T4- On to the next innings of my life #JaiHind🇮🇳@BCCI pic.twitter.com/z0VxnS4rwG
— Unmukt Chand (@UnmuktChand9) August 13, 2021
