Unmukt Chand

Early life

Unmukt Chand was born in a Kumaoni Rajput family to Bharat Chand Thakur and Rajeshwari Chand, who are teachers. He shifted from DPS Noida to Modern School, Barakhamba Road, in the 9th standard, getting admission to this prestigious school on the basis of his excellent performance in studies, in the written test and his skills in swimming.

Early career

Unmukt Chand scored 435 runs during his first stint with the Delhi U-19 team. The 435 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 Assam and Saurashtra. In fact, he scored 400 runs for Delhi in five Ranji matches. He has participated in Vinoo Mankad Trophy and the Coach Behar Trophy at the junior level. He is very good batsman.

Captaincy

Unmukt Chand was named the captain of the Delhi U-19 team 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. 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.

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.

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 2011. He continued to play for them in IPL 6 too. His performances however are nowhere near his match-winning performances for India U19 in the World Cup and he was dropped for the last game against Sunrisers Hyderabad. He's played a total of 7 matches scoring only 61 runs in total.He has been bought by the Rajasthan Royals for Rs 65 lakhs during the IPL 7 Auction. He was picked for the Mumbai Indians in the 2015 season and spent most of the season on the sidelines due to indifferent performances.

Youth career statistics

Chand's batting performance playing for India Under-19s:

Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2012-13

Unmukt grabbed his opportunity even in this competition. 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.

Honours and awards

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. Rahul Dravid, V.V.S. Laxman and Sanjay Manjrekar wrote forewords to the book.