“You can go far chote”: Irfan Pathan wishes Unmukt Chand luck after he announces retirement from India cricket

Irfan Pathan wishes Unmukt Chand: The former Indian all-rounder had played with Unmukt Chand at Delhi Daredevils.

Former India U-19 World Cup-winning captain Unmukt Chand has announced retirement from Indian cricket. The development means that 28-year old Chand will no longer will be playing BCCI-affiliated tournaments.

While reports in the media suggest that he is almost certain to represent USA in international cricket, there’s also a possibility of him playing in T20 leagues around the world.

Chasing a 226-run target in the final of ICC U-19 World Cup 2012 against Australia U-19, Chand had played a vital role in a match-winning 130-run partnership for the fifth wicket alongside wicket-keeper batsman Smit Patel (62 not out) scoring 111* (130) with the help of seven fours and six sixes.

Despite a thumping career in U-19 cricket, Chand couldn’t replicate the same success in domestic cricket. While there surely were brilliant innings occasionally, Chand needed to do much more than averaging 31.57 and 41.33 in 67 first-class and 120 List A matches respectively.

In a combined total of six IPL seasons for Delhi Daredevils (now Capitals), Rajasthan Royals and Mumbai Indians, Chand only managed 300 runs in 20 innings at an average and strike rate of 15 and 100 respectively.

Chand eventually left Delhi and moved to Uttarakhand in domestic cricket but even that move didn’t fruition for the right-hand top-order batsman.

Irfan Pathan wishes Unmukt Chand luck after he announces retirement from India cricket

Having last played a competitive match more than 18 months ago, Chand took to social media platform Twitter to announce the end of his playing time in the Indian circuit. Apart from penning down a detailed heartfelt note, Chand has also posted a couple of videos to bid adieu to Indian cricket.

Former India all-rounder Irfan Pathan, who had played with Chand at Daredevils, was among the firsts to wish Chand well for his future.

USA Cricket Team

If Chand starts to represent USA in the future, he will join the bandwagon as far overseas players moving to the States are concerned.

As of now, former England pacer Liam Plunkett, former New Zealand all-rounder Corey Anderson, former Pakistan batsman Sami Aslam and former Sri Lanka all-rounder Shehan Jayasuriya have all been playing approached by USA Cricket or have already started playing playing league cricket over there.

It is worth mentioning that former South Africa pacer Rusty Theron, who has represented Kings XI Punjab, Deccan Chargers and Rajasthan Royals in the IPL in the past, also plays for USA. Before Chand, former India U-19 cricketers in Sunny Sohal and Saurabh Netravalkar have already represented USA in international cricket with the latter being their current captain.

Readers must also note that J. Arunkumar, former Karnataka batsman who has coached Karnataka and Kings XI Punjab (batting coach), is the current head coach of USA’s cricket team.