MUMBAI, Aug 13: Unmukt Chand, who had led India to U-19 World Cup title triumph but struggled to replicate his success at the senior level, on Friday announced his retirement from all forms of the game.
Chand, 28, announced the decision on social media with a series of tweets and a lengthy note along with his some memorable videos.
In all probability, Chand will play in a T20 league in the United States, like his U-19 World Cup winning team-mate Smit Patel.
To compete there, he needed to announce his retirement since the BCCI does not allow its registered players to compete in foreign T20 Leagues.
Chand, a right-handed batsman and off-break bowler, who led India to 2012 U-19 World Cup win, soon became a household name in the country. He was the ‘Man of the Match’ in the final, as his 111 not out had shaped India’s victory.
He thanked the BCCI and described winning the U-19 World Cup as the biggest moment of his life.
After his U-19 exploits, former Australia skipper Ian Chappell had written in one his columns that he should be included in the Indian team.
For Chand things happened at a break-neck speed as he landed a big television commercial with the legendary Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Virat Kohli.
The Delhi-born top-order batsman wrote his World Cup memoir, something that had even amused former India captain Rahul Dravid.
But there were also many instances in his life, which did not go down well with former cricketers. He once took a break from India A camp to attend a talk show seminar of a private channel which had prompted former World Cup winning India skipper Kapil Dev to criticize him on the stage.
Dev’s team-mate and former chairman of selectors Sandeep Patil wanted him to be sent to Zimbabwe in 2015, but he somehow missed the bus.
Chand, who played for Delhi and also captained Uttarakhand, never had that break-through season that could have catapulted him to the next level. (PTI)
