U19 World Cup triumph shows the depth of Indian cricket, Unmukt Chand says
Captain of the 2012 win, he is now exploring new pasture in the US, Big Bash League
Kolkata: The Under-19 Indian team, basking in glory at the moment after earning the fifth World Cup title for the country last week, received a big thumbs-up from someone who knows how it feels to be on top of the world. Unmukt Chand, who led the U-19 team to a World Cup triumph in 2012 Down Under, was effusive in his praise about the maturity that Yash Dhull & Co showed during their campaign in the Caribbean.
‘‘It feels great that the U-19 boys have won the fifth trophy for the country. The way our boys have been playing year about year is really special. It’s been a great team effort on their part and the side looked better-prepared despite the Covid-19 situation often depriving them of match practice. It shows how strong this generation of Indian cricket is,’’ said Chand, who grabbed the headlines last month when he became the first Indian men’s player to be a part of the Big Bash League for the 2021-22 season.
It had been quite a rollercoaster ride for Chand, who was billed as Indian cricket’s next big thing when he led India to the World Cup triumph and capped his efforts with a magnificent unbeaten 111 in the final. Late last year, Chand retired as an Indian cricketer at 28 years and relocated to the USA where he is looking to take a fresh guard in international cricket for the US national team. Meanwhile, he was signed by Melbourne Renegades for the ongoing season of the T20 league, a team led by Australia’s white ball captain Aaron Finch.
Speaking to Gulf News from Melbourne in an exclusive interview, the articulate cricketer felt that it’s the intensity of the competition in India, along with the two preparation tournaments that Dhull & Co played which stood them in very good stead in the long tournament in the West Indies. ‘‘Yes, they have really stood up to the pressure. In India, our domestic structure is really strong and the players are so much exposed early on that their preparedness is more. This helps them in crunch situations as it was evident in the last tournament as well.
‘‘This apart, they got some useful match practice just ahead of the competition - the first one in India and then the U19 Asia Cup in the UAE which they went on to win,’’ Chand observed.
See, my advice to them will be to keep working hard. They have to remember that only some of them will play for India, while some won’t. However, keep working hard irrespective of that, keep bigger goals and learn to win more matches for your country
The euphoria is certainly well deserved, but given the fact that there is always that big gap between the lip and the cup towards making the senior grade from here, what would be his valuable advice? ‘‘See, my advice to them will be to keep working hard. They have to remember that only some of them will play for India, while some won’t. However, keep working hard irrespective of that, keep bigger goals and learn to win more matches for your country,’’ said Chand.
At a personal level, Chand has come to terms with the disappointment of not being able to fulfill his early promise and the fresh guard that he has taken as a cricketer. Asked how does it feel to be exploring a new territory, he said: ‘‘It feels great to be the first Indian men’s player to play in the prestigeous Big Bash League. I never thought that this is the journey I would take, but then life has it’s own ways. It’s nice to be playing some good cricket as this is what I always wanted to do. I now want to become a global player and then once I qualify to play for the US, it will be great.’’
Finally, how does he cope with the criticism - sometimes quite harsh - for not realising his early potential? Chand almost sounded ready to deal with this one: ‘‘Critics are always harsh. I have my own opinion about I went about my career and I have always taken this game very seriously. Life has it’s own ways - but then the journey is still going on. I have given this game my heart and I still have another 10 years or so of cricket left in me,’’ he added.