Former Indian cricketer Nikhil Chopra talked about the difference between two U19 World Cup winners, Virat Kohli and Unmukt Chand, and explained how Kohli continued his U19 form to senior level while Chand failed to prove his mettle.
Virat Kohli led the India U19 team to a World Cup victory in 2008. The right-hander after that cashed in almost every opportunity that came his way and never looked back since then. He’s one of the finest batters that the world cricket has ever seen and is one of the main reasons behind Team India’s success of late.
On the other hand when Unmukt Chand led the U19 team to the World Cup victory in 2012, he was seen as the next big thing in Indian cricket. Having scored truckloads of runs at junior level, it was expected that the right-hander will stake his claim at the senior level as well.
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Chand did play at the domestic level and in the IPL but he failed to set the stage on fire and never made it to the senior Indian team.
Speaking in a video posted on Khelneeti's youtube channel, Nikhil Chopra pointed out that the transition phase from U19 to Rani Trophy is very important as the player’s young phase is then over and he has to translate his performance at a higher level.
“The transition phase from U19 to Ranji Trophy is very important. From a boy, you are joining the men’s league. Your U19 phase is over and now you have to translate that performance at the Ranji Trophy level," Nikhil Chopra said.
Chopra cited the example of Virat Kohli and Unmukt Chand. He explained how the former after winning the U19 World Cup scored runs for the Delhi team and made it into Team India while the latter failed to translate his success at domestic level.
“Virat Kohli played for Delhi after winning the U19 World Cup. He scored plenty of runs there as well. He was dropped from the Indian team after his initial selection but picked again after scoring in domestic cricket.
“In contrast, Unmukt Chand couldn’t translate his success from U19 to domestic cricket. He was an exceptional talent but could not fulfill his potential. To get selected for India, you need to prove that you are one above the rest," he said.
Unmukt Chand amassed 2690 runs in 48 first-class matches and 2796 runs in 79 List A games respectively. He represented Delhi Capitals, Rajasthan Royals and Mumbai Indians in IPL and in a total of 21 matches, he managed just 300 runs.
The right-hander retired from Indian cricket in August last year and shifted the USA to prolong his cricketing career. He also became the first male Indian player to play in Big Bash League. He played for Melbourne Renegades in the recent BBL edition.
