Unmukt Chand quits Indian cricket, eyes fresh cricketing pastures in USA

Indias 2012 Under19 World Cupwinning captain Unmukt Chand has retired from Indian cricket and is set to play in the United States of America USAThe righthanded batsman who called time on his career through Twitter has been in the US for the past couple of months and may become part of the Major League Cricket that is set to begin in 2023 He could also play in the Minor League Cricket that is already underway in its inaugural seasonAccording to sources Chands inability to get an opportunity with the Delhi state team for the limitedovers competitions like Vijay Hazare Trophy and Syed Mushtaq Ali T20s this year forced him to eye fresher pastures His outing with the Uttarakhand state team in the 201920 season also was unproductive and he had to leave the state and try his luck in Delhi for the 202021 season His last six firstclass games all with Uttarakhand in the 201920 season yielded an aggregate of 144 runsThough he was ignored by Delhi selectors for the 202021 Syed Mushtaq Ali T20s he was picked in the squad for the Vijay Hazare onedayers However he didnt get to play a single game The 28yearold becomes the latest among many Indian domestic cricketers to shift to the USAPunjabs Sunny Sohal Sarabjit Ladda and Rajesh Sharma Mumbais Harmeet Singh Gujarats Smit Patel and Delhis Milind Kumar are the others to have shifted to the USA Harmeet and Patel were Chands teammates in the triumphant India Under19 World Cup sideChand had played a majority of his firstclass cricket for Delhi and also struck good opening partnerships with India opener Shikhar Dhawan in the Ranji Trophy However lean patches partly because of Delhi playing many matches at seamfriendly Roshanara Club Grounds in his formative years affected his consistency and couldnt let him be another Virat Kohli that people were expecting him to become after the 2012 junior World Cup triumphKohli had made his mark in the India senior team soon after leading India to the 2008 Under19 World Cup win However Chand couldnt get a chance with the senior team The righthander had made an unbeaten 111 in a tense victory over Australia in the 2012 Under19 World Cup final in Townsville AustraliaAlso Read BCCI shares video of teammates applauding KL Rahul in the dressing room at LordsThe 28yearold who also led India A as well as Delhi and Uttarakhand in domestic cricket had represented Mumbai Indians Delhi Capitals and Rajasthan Royals in the Indian Premier League IPL In a statement posted on his social media accounts he has said he is now ready to take the leap of faith and enter into a new territory and contribute my bestT1 On to the next innings of my life JaiHind pictwittercomfEEJ9xOdltmdash Unmukt Chand UnmuktChand9 August 13 2021I can play this game with all my heart and energy for a lifetime and morehellip But sometimes things dont pan out as imagined and makes us take lifechanging decisions which can only be judged at the end of the journeyhellip said ChandHe added He closes some doors but opens many others Its just a matter of perspective Being an eternal optimist I feel the road ahead of me is going to lead me to an exciting new journey and I can add much more value to it I feel more complete as a cricketer and a human being and I am ready to take the leap of faith and enter into new territory and contribute my best Since his debut in 2010 Chand played 67 firstclass matches scoring 3379 runs with an average of 3157 In 120 List A matches Chand amassed 4505 runs at an average of 4133 In 77 T20s he made 1565 runs at an average of 2235This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever