"It wasn't like I had quit cricket and gone there" - Unmukt Chand reacts to Indian legend's scathing remarks after 2012 Under-19 World Cup win

India's 2012 Under-19 World Cup-winning captain Unmukt Chand has clarified that the statements made by the 1983 World Cup-winning skipper Kapil Dev at a 2012 event had been taken out of context. Chand said that he only attended that event because a high-profile BCCI official had told him to do so and he could not say no.

The 32-year-old said that cricket was always his top priority and he returned the to Bengaluru, after attending the event to continue training in the camp. Chand told The Lallantop:

“I feel the statement has been taken out of context. I agree with what he said. As a senior, he should say this. I don’t try to defend that. But we had a camp going on in the NCA. A very high BCCI official had said that I needed to attend this event. I could not say no to that. I had to be at that event. It wasn’t like I had quit cricket and gone there. I was told to return the next day."

"I finished practice till 12 pm, took a flight from Bengaluru, attended the event, and returned so that I didn’t miss practice. But maybe he wasn’t aware of it and told what he did because of that”.

A few days after the 2012 Under-19 World Cup, Chand had shared the stage with Dev at an event. The latter had criticized the former for having prioritised being at the event over attending the camp.

"What are you doing here? Why you have come here. If I were his coach or manager, I would not have let him come here even if I was given a million dollars. I would have kicked on his backside for coming here," Dev had said at the event (via NDTV).

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Unmukt Chand says things went downwards at Delhi after Gautam Gambhir retired from cricket

Unmukt Chand played for Delhi from 2010 to 2018. The right-handed batter revealed that things began to deteriorate in the state after Gautam Gambhir retired from cricket.

He added that when the 43-year-old was in-charge, he ensured there were not many lot of problems in the team.

“Until 2017, when Gautam Gambhir was the Delhi captain, he ensured that there were not a lot of issues in the team because he was a very strong leader. He fought a lot for the players. He backed the players a lot. After he retired from cricket, a lot of issues started coming up in Delhi cricket, Chand said.

Unmukt Chand retired from all forms of Indian cricket in August 2021. He relocated to the United States to further continue his cricketing journey. He currently plays for Major League Cricket (MLC) side Los Angeles Knight Riders.