Unmukt Chand, the 2012 Under-19 World Cup winning captain for India, might be in line to play against his former team, as he qualifies for the USA team in March 2024. The T20 World Cup 2024 will be played in West Indies and USA in June this year and India will face the co-hosts in their group A.
Having retired from all forms of cricket in India in September 2021, he has almost fulfilled the eligibility criteria of staying in the USA for 10 months in a year for three years.
The top-order batter was one of India's most promising prospects in the early 2010s. However, following the World Cup, where he struck a match-winning century in the final, he was unable to live up to the lofty expectations.
Unmukt relocated to the United States in 2021 after dismal domestic results drove him to swap allegiances from Delhi to Uttarakhand in search of better opportunities. He impressed by leading the Silicon Valley Strikers to the first Minor League Cricket T20 title and scoring over 1500 runs across three seasons.
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"Something which would be very strange (laughs), but I think since I've retired from India, my next goal was always to sort of play against India, and not in any bad blood but keen to test myself out against the best team in the world," Chand told Cricbuzz.
He certainly recalls captaining the likes of Akshar Patel, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Suryakumar Yadav, and Sanju Samson in a few India A stints. Chand is also eager to restart his rivalry with Bumrah, in which he has bragging rights after scoring two T20 hundred against Gujarat, who also included Bumrah.
"He got the better of me the last time I faced him in the Vijay Hazare trophy final" exclaimed Chand.
Left-arm spinner Harmeet Singh was also Unmukt Chand’s teammates in the 2012 U19 World Cup win for India. And he might also be part of the USA squad for the T20 World Cup. Despite showing early promise in India's domestic circuit, Harmeet moved to the USA in 2020 and impressed in the inaugural MLC.
He took 7 wickets at a miserly 7 rpo. He also earned accolades from Imad Wasim who he hunted in pairs with and at times overshadowed at Seattle Orcas, who finished runner-ups.
"USA has given me a lot of opportunities and given me everything that I couldn't get back home and I owe it to the country. I think whatever opportunities I was starved for I got it here, and I'm able to showcase myself. I think what America has given me is no less than redemption. Performance wise whatever I could've done in the last 3 years or whatever was in my control I have. Rest is on the board," Harmeet said.
Harmeet relishes the idea of lining up against his former Mumbai Ranji Trophy teammates like Rohit Sharma and Suryakumar Yadav.
"Rohit was present at my debut and I have had a few battles with Surya over the years. He has swatted me around at times and luckily I have got him a few times as well," Harmeet added.
Smit Patel, the pugnacious wicketkeeper batter, had made 62* in the final of the 2012 U19 World Cup to help India champions. He relished domestic cricket in India, playing for Gujarat, Tripura, and Baroda, and played more than 50 FC matches.
But with no India team call-up in sight, Patel moved to the USA in 2020 and immediately received a call-up for Barbados Tridents in CPL 2021, duly notching up a half-century on debut.
He also overcame a near-fatal car accident and was drafted by San Francisco Unicorns at the MLC, but didn't play a game in the inaugural season.
"Lucky to be even alive. But getting back on my feet and being able to enjoy the sport again is the ultimate thing for me. That India game will be special in front of a packed crowd," Smit said.
Smit was also Bumrah's first captain for any representative age group side.
"Have spent a lot of time with Jassi over the years. Still remember the day he rocked up to practice for the first and he left us awestruck with what we were witnessing (laughs). The team had a name for him that day, we used to call him Jasprit Gumrah (confused),” Patel said.
(Cricbuzz inputs)
