From basking in the glory of leading India's U-19 World Cup to the title in 2012, and being hailed as the next prodigy, to gracefully stepping away from the Indian cricket scene and now teetering on the brink of donning the USA colors in international cricket, Unmukt Chand's journey has been a thrilling rollercoaster of highs and lows.
Chand made a bold move in 2021 by bidding farewell to the BCCI and embracing a new cricketing adventure with the USA. Having spent the past three years on American soil, he now stands on the verge of making an international mark for his adopted nation, as he qualifies to play for USA in March.
As the 2024 ICC Men's T20 World Cup kickstarts in June, the 30-year-old is gearing up to get the coveted cap.
In a conversation with The Quint, he shared his thoughts on the unique experience of preparing to play against his home country, the turning point in his career and more.
Here are the excerpts:
From captaining India to the Under-19 World Cup title to now, when you're on the cusp of representing another country against India in this summer's T20 World Cup. At some point that American jersey will also mark the end of a dream of yours, to play for India. How have you coped with that feeling, and do you think it's something an athlete really deserves to happen to them?
Being in India for all my life, the dream of playing for the country was obviously always there but things took a u-turn in 2021. Then, I decided to see how things will pan out in the USA and decided to move.
In March, I will be eligible to play for the country and in this summer's T20 World Cup, USA and India are in the same group. It will be interesting. At the end of the day, it's all about playing good cricket.
As a professional cricketer, you want to be playing cricket at a very competitive level and at the highest level. Sadly, that didn't happen in India. So obviously, it's a new opportunity for me personally.
The way things have been sort of shaping up in the USA, we are trying to build up a good squad. We think like Indians, everything is like that only. Like anyone else who's living in the US or anywhere else apart from India. It's not that they pick and choose India. It's like they're working in the US but at the same time you will always be an Indian. Even in the USA, there are so many Indians so it doesn't feel like I'm playing for any other country. It's mostly a land of immigrants. So it's very different.
What was that one thing in 2021 that made you decide that it was time to end your career as an Indian cricketer and move to the US?
These talks were happening when I resigned from the BCCI, and went to the US, because things were not going very well for me in India. When I made the move other things which happened in India made me take the decision of coming to the US and seeing better pastures.
The decision was then made. Ever since I have come to the US I have been playing cricket. I have participated in whatever tournament I can and I have played Major League too. Three years have passed in a whisker. I have no idea how it's going to be but it's going to be interesting, it's going to be fun. It's going to be nice, in a way, I'm looking forward to it.
You wrote a book on your life in your early 20s. Do you think enough has happened in the past 10 years that you can write another book?
I keep writing in my journals regularly. When the book happened it was basically on the journey till the U-19 World Cup. I keep writing things down and a book came out of it. I have been doing the same thing. It is not that I want to write a book, but if it is supposed to happen it will happen organically.
A lot has happened. All the successes in India, being very close to getting the India cap and that not happening, Representing India A, leading the side for so many years and then certain things that didn’t happen with Delhi cricket. All those things made me come to the decision of leaving India and going and seeing better opportunities abroad.
It's been a rollercoaster ride, but it's been fun. I don't have any sort of regrets. I believe in working hard, I believe in getting my cricket going. God has his own ways of showing us paths. Maybe my path was written like this. Three years back, if you'd have asked me, USA, I would have not even thought of it in my dreams.
Resigning from the BCCI and making a move to the USA, these are very big decisions. Apart from you, who do you think this decision has been the toughest on?
I think it was a very tough decision for me to make personally and my immediate family, starting from my parents and then my uncle who'd been very dedicated to my cricket.
Also for my wife, she was my girlfriend back then. It was difficult for all of us. My mother and my wife were adamant that I should go (to the USA) because they could see that certain things were happening in India which were not supposed to happen. Sadly, they were happening with me in Delhi cricket. It was not a good place to be in. When the offer came they thought that I should try it out.
When I left India, I had gone with a very open mind. I had not resigned from BCCI but once I stayed in the USA for a couple of months and when I was convinced that I'm going in the right direction, that's when I decided to call it quits. That's when it happened. But it was a tough, a very tough decision for me to make.
Since I was five years old, I've always wanted to play for the country. Everyday, waking up has been a dream to play for the country. And that cap (India cap) held a very special place in my heart. As a cricketer you always want to go there, do your best and represent your country, that’s the biggest thing. All of a sudden, you're not playing for that dream anymore. That's a big setback in a lot of ways.
There was a time initially when I was not watching any India games because it started giving me anxiety. With time, I started getting over it, obviously, not completely over it.
Now, it's just playing for a different team if at all. Otherwise the heart and soul, everything is in India only. Nothing changes. It's just a different team you're playing for in a way. But the roots are in India. I feel you become more Indian once you come out of the country, I feel that has become even more strong.
;If you were given a chance, what is it that you would do differently in your 20s to be able to have a career in Indian cricket?
From 2013 to 2017, I was leading India A. I was very close to getting that cap. It's also a matter of luck, time and so many things. Somehow obviously I struggled a little bit in my first class though, but in List A I was doing very well. For my home team Delhi also. But things were just not happening. Sometimes it's like, certain things don't happen. You try your best, but it's not happening. So it was more of that.
If you ask me, what could I have done differently? Maybe a couple of 80s and 90s which I scored in India A, if I would have converted them into centuries, things might have been different. Maybe one or two breakthrough seasons and IPL here and there would have made a difference.
It's hard sometimes when you're doing well, that spot is not available. So everything has to click at the right time. That didn't happen. It's fine.
Are you still in touch with your Indian teammates? Do you guys talk?
It's mostly messages, maybe DMs and all those things. At times congratulatory messages here and there. Everyone is doing their own thing but I do message them, especially when someone does well and we have a brief chat. It's good. It's nice.
With all of these things happening, you could have easily given up on cricket and maybe switched careers, but you've not given up. Why?
Cricket is everything. There's no doubt about it. If you look at cricket nowadays, it's become very global. It was very different 10-15 years ago but now everything in the world has become more global. Focus is more on franchise cricket; it has taken precedence over country cricket so that's a good thing for cricketers as well.
When you are playing in other countries, you can have a career for yourself, that's a good thing. You want to maximise your opportunities. For me, the good thing was that all these things happened to me at a very young age. I'm 30 now, at least I got another chance to pull out a few years of international cricket.
What excites you the most about playing for the USA?
It's always about playing cricket because that is my first love. The years that I feel I have missed in India because I struggled a lot from 2019 onwards, I want to make up for those years, because I want to actually leave cricket on a very high note.
I want to be very busy with cricketing commitments. Playing top level cricket, giving it all on the field. Professionally, I want to do that. At the same time, coming to the USA also means that it's a new place for cricket. There's so much raw talent, which needs to be nurtured, developed. In a way mentoring is something which I keep doing. I help players here and people who need me in terms of whatever I can do.
I feel there's a lot of potential here. With the World Cup and the Olympics, Cricket is going to grow here. If I can contribute in ways to get USA cricket up above that would be nice.
Have you had any conversations with your coaches in the USA or the team management about the kind of role they have in mind for you?
It's still very early days. There'll be selections happening. So nothing, as of now, it's still at a very early stage, it's not like India, where everything is already established. You're just sort of getting into it.
Which Indian bowler are you most excited to face?
When the technicalities are done, then I'll be very excited to play against India. Because it's the best team in the world. I have played with them (Indian cricketers) before so it's going to be in a very good spirit. It's going to be more like a reunion.
I’m excited because that’s my home place. It'd be USA versus India, it's against you but you want to play with India. Me coming from India, I would love to play against India, because I've grown up with these players, I've competed with them. And to be just able to play there will be such a good thing.
It will be a good test for us to also see how much water we are in as a team. The whole point is to take the USA cricket world to the next level. And if we can beat top teams that's the goal.
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