Unmukt Chand

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Unmukt Chand
Unmukt Chand.jpg
Personal information
Full nameUnmukt Chand Thakur
Born (1993-03-26) 26 March 1993 (age 28)
New Delhi, India
Height5 ft 7 in (1.70 m)
BattingRight-handed
BowlingRight-arm off break
RoleBatsman
Domestic team information
YearsTeam
2010–2018Delhi
2011–2013Delhi Daredevils (squad no. 9)
2010-2013North Zone
2014Rajasthan Royals
2015–2016Mumbai Indians (squad no. 15)
2019–2020Uttarakhand
Career statistics
Competition FC List A T20
Matches 48 79 59
Runs scored 2690 2796 1188
Batting average 35.39 39.38 22.00
100s/50s 7/14 4/19 3/2
Top score 151 119 125
Balls bowled 48 66 –
Wickets 0 0 –
Bowling average – – –
5 wickets in innings – – –
10 wickets in match – – –
Best bowling – – –
Catches/stumpings 53/0 30/3 38/1
Source: Cricinfo, 2 September 2019

Unmukt Chand (born 26 March 1993) is a former Indian cricketer. He is a right-handed batsman who usually opens the batting. He played for Delhi in Indian domestic cricket tournaments.[1] Chand led the India Under-19 cricket team to the U-19 Cricket World Cup victory in 2012. He hit an unbeaten 111 in the final against Australia in Townsville,[2] winning the praise of Australian great Ian Chappell.[3] On 13th August 2021, he announced his retirement from playing cricket in India [4][5][6]

Early life[]

Unmukt Chand was born in a Kumauni Rajput family to Bharat Chand Thakur and Rajeshwari Chand, who are teachers.[7] He shifted from DPS Noida to Modern School, Barakhamba Road in the 9th standard.[8]

Career[]

Early career[]

Unmukt Chand scored 499 runs during his first stint with the Delhi U-19 team. The 499 runs include 2 centuries and 1 half-century. His outstanding performance in the U-19, gave him a place in the delhi senior team. He scored 151 runs on a seaming track against a seasoned Railways attack in Ranji Trophy 2010-11. That year he also scored two half-centuries against Mumbai and Saurashtra. In fact, he scored 400 runs for Delhi in five Ranji matches. He has participated in Vinoo Mankad Trophy and the Cooch Behar Trophy at the junior level.

Captaincy[]

Unmukt Chand was named the captain of the Delhi U-19 team[9] and the North Zone U-19 team. He then went on to become the captain of the India Under-19 cricket team for the quadrangular series that was held in Vishakhapatnam, India. The quadrangular series included U-19 teams from India, Sri Lanka, West Indies and Australia. He scored an unbeaten 122 against Sri Lanka and two fifties against Australia and West Indies.[10] He ended the tournament with 336 runs from seven outings, just one behind Australia's Cam Bancroft. He also participated in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy later that season. In his captaincy India also won the U-19 World cup in Australia.He was the first captain to win the U-19 world cup in Australia.[11]

Big-match player[]

In April 2012, India U-19 cricket team played a quadrangular series in Australia involving U-19 teams from Australia, England and New Zealand. Batting at 3, Chand scored an impressive 94 against England in the semi-final to help India win the match by 63 runs. He followed it up with a blistering century against Australia in the final – an unbeaten 112, which included 9 fours and 6 sixes – to take India to an emphatic 7-wicket victory. India won the tournament under Chand's captaincy, who ended with 281 runs from 5 matches, only six runs short of the tournament's highest run-getter Daniel Bell-Drummond.

In June 2012, in the ACC Under-19s Asia Cup, Chand rose to the occasion once again with a 116 against Sri Lanka in the semi-final before scoring 121 against Pakistan in the final. He won the Man of the match award in both the games. He was the highest run-getter in the tournament with 286 runs from 3 matches.

On 26 August 2012, Chand led the India U-19s to victory in the 2012 ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup in Australia. His counterpart William Bosisto's half-century had rescued Australia from 38 for 4 to a respectable score of 225, but Chand's 130-run stand with Smit Patel ensured India won with more than two overs to spare. India defeated Australia in the final to lift the World Cup, with Chand scoring a captain's knock of 111* in 130 balls which consisted of 6 sixes and 7 fours.[12]

On 3 March 2013, Chand scored 116 for Delhi in the Vijay Hazare Trophy final against Assam to show his penchant for scoring hundreds in tournament finals. Delhi went on to win the game by 95 runs and the title for the first time.

IPL career[]

Unmukt made his IPL debut for Delhi Daredevils in 2013 and got out clean bowled for a first ball duck in the season opener game versus Kolkata Knight Riders by Bret Lee. Then he moved to Rajasthan Royals during the IPL 7 Auction (2014). He was picked by the Mumbai Indians in the 2015 season, where he won his first IPL title even though he didn't get to feature in the games often.[1]

Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2012–13[]

He scored 321 runs at an average of 35.66 with a strike rate reaching 140 for Delhi. He was the highest run-scorer. He scored back-to-back centuries, first against Kerala where he scored 105 off 67 balls, and then against Gujarat, scoring 125 off just 63 deliveries. Delhi was later shocked by Odisha in the semi-finals where he failed to score.

Commentary[]

Unmukt started commentating during the 2020 U-19 Cricket World Cup finals.[13] Then he was seen doing commentary in Star Sports 1 Hindi for Caribbean Premier League.[14]

Honours and awards[]

  • 2012 ICC Cricket U/19 World Cup
  • Castrol Junior Cricketer of the Year for 2011–12
  • CEAT Indian youngster of the year 2012

Books[]

Chand has penned down his memories of the U19 WC into a book, The Sky is the Limit (2013). The book chronicles Unmukt's rise as a cricketer, from his childhood days to the World Cup victory and how he came to represent his country, lead his team to victory complete with a captain's match-winning knock and bring home the coveted trophy. The victory was India U-19 team's first World Cup win outside Asia.[8] Rahul Dravid, V.V.S. Laxman and Sanjay Manjrekar wrote forewords to the book.

References[]

  1. ^ Jump up to: a b "Unmukt Chand Player Profile". ESPN Cricinfo.
  2. ^ India U-19 wins World Cup under the captaincy of Unmukt Chand
  3. ^ Chappell, Ian (26 August 2012). "Harmeet Singh and Unmukt Chand are ready for international cricket". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 4 January 2016.
  4. ^ "World Cup winning U19 India captain Unmukt Chand announces retirement". The Times of India. 13 August 2021. Retrieved 15 August 2021.
  5. ^ "Unmukt Chand retires from Indian cricket at the age of 28". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 13 August 2021.
  6. ^ "India's U-19 World Cup winning captain Unmukt Chand retires from Indian cricket; to play for another country". SportsTiger. Retrieved 8 August 2021.
  7. ^ "'I hope I'll have my feet on the ground and not fly off'". Retrieved 1 October 2016.
  8. ^ Jump up to: a b "Reference: My Journey to the World Cup: Unmukt Chand's New Book To Be Launched 30 Nov". Learning and Creativity. 27 November 2013. Retrieved 11 March 2014.
  9. ^ TNN (9 October 2011). "Unmukt Chand to lead ACA Under-19 team". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 24 January 2014. Retrieved 14 April 2013.
  10. ^ DNA Correspondent (10 October 2011). "India beat Sri Lanka to win Quadrangular Under-19 Series". DNA. Retrieved 14 April 2013.
  11. ^ "Unmukt Chand- All you need to know about former India U-19 World Cup winning captain". SportsTiger. Retrieved 8 August 2021.
  12. ^ India U-19 team wins the third World Cup under the captaincy of Unmukt Chand
  13. ^ "Unmukt Chand Turns Commentator for IND vs BAN U19 CWC 2020 Final, Fans React After Listening to the Victorious 2012 U19 World Cup Captain |