New Delhi: Former India U-19 World Cup-winning captain Unmukt Chand stated his decision to move to the United States came after much thinking as he felt ‘mentally tortured’ sitting out while others kept getting chances.
Chand, who led India to the U-19 title in 2012 including an unbeaten century in the final against Australia, shocked everyone when he announced his retirement from Indian cricket. He has already moved to the States and is playing for Silicon Valley Strikers in the Minor League Cricket.
“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,” Chand said opening up about his decision for the first time since the move.
“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 mental torture for me to see myself sitting out and xyz playing the games, who I wouldn’t even consider in my club teams,” he added.
T1- On to the next innings of my life #JaiHind🇮🇳 pic.twitter.com/fEEJ9xOdlt
— Unmukt Chand (@UnmuktChand9) August 13, 2021
Currently, at 28, Chand didn’t want to waste time waiting for his turn to come. “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,” Chand explained.
“Obviously, I have got a limited number of years and I got to play good cricket, and staying in limbo is a very, very bad place to be in.” With no cricket happening in the country due to lockdown, Chand decided to explore opportunities.
Chand, who represented Delhi at the domestic circuit, moved to Uttarakhand last season. “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,” he added.
Chand played 67 first-class matches and 120 List A matches scoring 3379 and 4505 runs respectively. He scored eight first-class centuries and 16 fifties before quitting Indian cricket.
