Unmukt Chand made a wise decision: Teammates

Indiarsquos 2012 U19 World Cupwinning captain Unmukt Chandrsquos decision to retire at the age of 28 was hailed by his teammates Akhil Herwadkar and Baba AparajithRiding on Chandrsquos unbeaten 111 India chased 226 to beat Australia by six wickets and emerge U19 champions at Townsville Australia in August 2012 Delhibased Chand scored 3379 runs in 67 firstclass games He will be playing T20 leagues in the United States like his 2012 teammate and wicketkeeperbatsman Smit PatellsquoI wish him good luckrsquoldquoItrsquos his Chand decision to play in the US and I wish him good luck He may get a good opportunity there What is more important at this age is to play cricket and if he is getting opportunities there then I think itrsquos a good decisionrdquo Herwadkar told midday on Friday Herwadkar 26 who scored 2399 runs while representing Mumbai in 38 firstclass games and will represent Chhattisgarh from the upcoming season said Chand was a skipper who always wanted to lead from the frontUnmukt Chand with the U19 World Cup Trophy PicMidDay ArchievesldquoThere is no doubt he is a good batsman He singlehandedly helped us win the U19 World Cup final He has all the qualities that a captain needs to have Being a skipper he did his job superbly throughout that tournamentrdquo remarked HerwadkarChennaibased Aparajith 27 who contributed 33 in the U19 World Cup final said ldquoI have high regards for Unmukt He is a very good cricketer and very good human being What stands out for me is that the kind of work he had put in all throughout his career is tremendous he worked really hard His work ethic has been immenserdquo The Tamil Nadu batsman who has 3952 runs from 78 firstclass games also has high respect for Chandrsquos captaincy skills ldquoHe was a very good captain a very good leader for all of us In those two to three years we spent a lot of time together He is someone we all looked up to and we had a very good relationship This retirement is totally his decision but I feel whatever he has done whatever decision he has taken he obviously would have thought about it a lot He must have had his reasons for itrdquo added AparajithA good opportunity HarmeetLeftarm spinner Harmeet Singh who is playing for Seattle Thunderbolts in a USA minor league said ldquoPlayers are getting lot of respect here It will create a good opportunity for Unmukt as wellrdquo Harmeet 28 who represented Mumbai and Tripura told midday from SeattleBaba Aparajith and Akhil HerwadkarExchief selector Sandeep Patil shockedFormer selector Sandeep Patil told midday ldquoIrsquom very sad and shocked to hear about Unmuktrsquos retirement Perhaps he got frustrated He was an absolute India material and was on my national selection committeersquos radarldquoHe was probably the only one among the players who I told during my stint as National Cricket Academy director that you should be playing for India and didnrsquot play ldquoHe led India A and batted very well He used to talk to me often and meet me in Mumbai My advice to him was to keep trying and never give up Irsquom sadrdquoAlso Read These 10 Indian cricketers scored a century at Lords