Those who follow cricket keenly will remember Unmukt Chand. He was a household name even before his Under 19 journey and was expected to be the “Next Kohli”. Everything started well for the youngster and now things are not looking great for him.
Talking about it to Aakash Chopra in a show, “The biggest shock for me came when I was dropped from the one-day team of Delhi. I was captaining India A then (2016), scoring runs, playing zonal T20 Cricket in Mumbai and they dropped me from one-day squad only. I was playing with Shikhar Dhawan and Gautam Gambhir, the selectors told me that we are making you preparing you for something else and they have dropped you from the Delhi squad.
“I got dropped and got a chance after Delhi lost its first 3 matches. I got to play in the 5th and 6th match where I scored 75 and 80 runs to get Man-of-The-Match awards on both the occasions. Now, because I had not played many matches, I did not have many run and so was not selected for India A also. That was for the first time in 2017 that I did not get to represent India A. That was also the time when I got dropped from the IPL.
“It’s a funny story again. I was in Mumbai Indians and they had retained me It was such a big team team that I was not getting any chance to play. I wanted to go to a side where at least I get matches to play. I talked to someone and he told me to leave MI and come to them. I just wanted to play and it was not about money. I wanted to play even if I was being picked at my base price.
“Then during the action no one picked me. It suddenly stood in my face that there was suddenly no IPL, Delhi cricket. It was the biggest shock for me. I felt like my clothes are ripped apart. Suddenly from everywhere to nowhere. I woke up after 3-4 days and went to practice.
“I realised I can’t live without cricket. I do feel sad at times but then I think that many years have gone in my favour and if 2-3 years have not been in my favour it doesn’t mean end of roads for me. We say ‘why me’ when we lose but we don’ say ‘why me’ when we win,” Unmukt Chand said.
Chand even moved from Delhi to play for Uttarakhand and even captained the side. However, he got sacked from the position after series of losses.
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