Is Unmukt Chand ready to play for India?

Unmukt Chand – On his way to the top?

Unmukt Chand shot to prominence when he led India to U-19 World Cup in August last year. Leading from the front, he scored 111 runs in a tense chase against Australia and flaunted his temperament. Add an IPL contract to it and you have a success story.

Twelve months on, his road to the national team looks stiff. His stats looks mediocre, his list-A and First Class career averages are 37 and 35, respectively. But his T20 records tells a different story, 648 runs in 32 outings at an average of 21, which is, in no way, of a man who sent the gen next Aussie bowlers on a leather hunt.

Chand’s elevation to the opening slot has been a failure too. His ability to handle the moving ball was well exposed by Brett Lee in IPL opener earlier this year. His stats in IPL again undermine his ability. In his seven appearances for Delhi Daredevils, he scored 61 runs.

Chand has returned to the domestic circuit and is trying hard. Since then, he has played in Challenger series and was part of the India A team against West Indies A and New Zealand A. He is a regular in the Delhi Ranji squad too. Since his inception at the U-19 level, he is compared to a number of class batsmen, who are produced by Delhi. The weight of expectation has got to do something behind his failures.

The selectors also handed him the captaincy against the touring Kiwi team. But during his shot at the captaincy for the India A, he was very inconsistent. Although India A swept New Zealand A, on a personal front, he scored two half centuries, one of which was a nervous 90, and in the rest of the three matches, he didn’t even score 20.

Against the West Indies, he didn’t fare much better with 50 runs in three matches. Despite so many failures, he is touted to be the next big thing in Indian cricket. With the numbers clearly stating that he is not ready for the India jersey, many former greats are hailing the young man.

Ian Chappel has been a vocal supporter of Chand and said that he is ready for international stage right away. In his article, he wrote that Chand is a talented player and needs to practice his trade at the higher level. He rated the youngster so high that he mentioned how Indian U-19 talent can make other countries jealous.

Wasim Akram, too supported Chappel’s sentiments. “As a whole package, he is excellent. This guy is very special and I hope the Indian selectors are looking at him because Ian Chappell (former Australian captain) has been saying, we have been saying that Chand is ready for India,” he said.

Chand is a top order batsman and needs to weigh in his options. Practically, it looks impossible to break in to the middle order, which is completely packed with Kohlis and Rainas and with the team winning back to back series, there is no room for national selectors to play with the winning combination. Maybe a year from now, things could be different.

Chand, now 20, must make sure that he stays focused and grab the chance with both the hands when it comes. With the age in his favour, the selectors can give him all the time he wants and should make him sweat in the wilderness of domestic cricket. Not to forget, the likes of Dravid, Ganguly and Tendulkar blossomed in the Ranji circuit before they flourished in that India jersey.