Unmukt Chand: What went wrong for India’s next big thing?

[Tibarn]

https://wisden.com/almanack/unmukt-chand-what-went-wrong-for-indias-next-big-thing

Nice article by  Unmukt Chand describing what he thinks went wrong with his career. 

 

Some good excerpts 

Quote

One thing that is clear to me is that after a certain level, everyone is the same. Our skill sets might vary, techniques might be different and so too the approach, but as they say in Hindi, ‘bas 19-20 ka hi farak hota hai’. It’s just the slight difference between 19 and 20. A player can’t be defined by these aspects. What carries more weight is the mental aptitude to understand the situation, adapt one’s game and have that insatiable hunger to perform each time.

 

But this is something we are rarely taught. Few coaches discuss these aspects with players; instead, the easiest to tinker with is technique — a favourite for any coach and probably the worst for a player. A few failures and the first thing to be tinkered with is technique. It might help to an extent, but the game is not played with just technique; it’s about the ability to understand one’s game, minimise the chances of getting out and know how to score runs. Street smartness is important.

 

Till the junior level, if you had better skills than your opponent, you would mostly succeed. If you had better technique, you would be way ahead of other players. Your stature was daunting to the opposition. Just being talked about gave you so much confidence that you started out three paces ahead from the beginning. This changes when you graduate to the next level. Yes, one still talks about the best batsman or the best bowler in the other team, but you know that you can take him down if plans are executed well. In modern-day cricket, there is no difference between a Delhi or a Vidarbha. Vidarbha, in fact, thrashed the multiple champions to win the Ranji Trophy 2017/18.

 

Quote

Every game is different, every situation is a new one, and every day is a fresh start. How can you be the same yesterday and today? The best players don’t restrict themselves to fixed notions — they keep changing. Sometimes patterns do work, but, in the longer run, flexibility defines a player. You have to unlearn and start afresh every day. The most important thing is to enjoy this game of cricket. Let’s control the controllables and stay happy.

 

 

 

[rkt.india]

Lack of game improvement. Didn't have a good front foot game.

[putrevus]

He thought he arrived just by winning that under19 cup. He might have made it if not become a regular team member if he was hard working , same thing happened to his VC if I am not wrong in Baba Aparjith. Both of them have struggled to become regulars even for their state. Baba is doing better than Chand.

 

Would it have been better for him if he never played that under19 world cup? Is under19 world cup helping Indian senior teams?

[bowl_out]

What's he doing now? 

Neither he nor Baba Aparajith are even in any IPL teams?

[beetle]

6 hours ago, bowl_out said:

What's he doing now? 

Neither he nor Baba Aparajith are even in any IPL teams?

Chand was playing for Uttarakhand .

[SK_IH]

I have not read the full interview. But he should work on his cricket rather than writing skills. Take Mayank Agarwal for example, he played U19 two years prior to Chand & has now become an Indian regular. Chand should work hard, let his bat do the talking & get back into the mainstream. Back your talent, not your pen.

[NameGoesHere]

I don't see a dichotomy between his writing and his cricket, why should they be exclusionary.

 

This guy is very self analytical and writes well.  Shades of Roebuck (weak praise if he has a similar cricket career)

 

He may not make it at the international level but I think he'll be around in some capacity or another in the cricket world.

 

Let him be all he can be.

[Mariyam]

16 hours ago, putrevus said:

He thought he arrived just by winning that under19 cup. He might have made it if not become a regular team member if he was hard working , same thing happened to his VC if I am not wrong in Baba Aparjith. Both of them have struggled to become regulars even for their state. Baba is doing better than Chand.

 

Would it have been better for him if he never played that under19 world cup? Is under19 world cup helping Indian senior teams?

I hope this can be a learning experience for Jaiswal.

There was a lot of buzz in the media before/during the U19 WC, mainly because of the sheer struggle that Jaiswal had to get through to reach where he is.

Have followed a few games/reports of his performances ever since.

 

In the IPL, he had some exposure but he simply didn't seem ready. Nothing 'wow' in any of his innings. Safe to say that we can put it down to the huge gulf in standards between an U19 tournament and international cricket.

[The Realist]

On 11/3/2020 at 6:52 PM, putrevus said:

He thought he arrived just by winning that under19 cup. He might have made it if not become a regular team member if he was hard working , same thing happened to his VC if I am not wrong in Baba Aparjith. Both of them have struggled to become regulars even for their state. Baba is doing better than Chand.

 

Would it have been better for him if he never played that under19 world cup? Is under19 world cup helping Indian senior teams?

U-19 is rarely a good barometer of judging if a young player will make it at senior level. U-21 is a better bet.

Case in point in football - very few who look good at U-19 level go on to have a decent career whereas at U-21 those who shine often develop into good players.

 

Problem is cricket does not have a U-21 WC or tournament and the jump from U-19 level to domestic or full international is often too large.

[The Dark Horse]

On 11/4/2020 at 12:22 AM, putrevus said:

He thought he arrived just by winning that under19 cup. He might have made it if not become a regular team member if he was hard working , same thing happened to his VC if I am not wrong in Baba Aparjith. Both of them have struggled to become regulars even for their state. Baba is doing better than Chand.

 

Would it have been better for him if he never played that under19 world cup? Is under19 world cup helping Indian senior teams?

Baba is a different case..he didn't set the domestics on fire though he did decently well. He was benched by CSK for some years which didn't help. He could have definitely done better than Rinku Singh, Gurpreet, etc..

[FischerTal]

same problem as Prithvi Shaw. cant play swing/seam.

[putrevus]

 

9 hours ago, The Dark Horse said:

Baba is a different case..he didn't set the domestics on fire though he did decently well. He was benched by CSK for some years which didn't help. He could have definitely done better than Rinku Singh, Gurpreet, etc..

I don't think Chand set fire on domestic cricket either. You cannot expect a under19 cricketer to set domestic cricket on fire. I wouldn't recommend more than a season in domestic cricket for any talented youngster either bowler or batsmen.

 

Playing more domestic cricket will hurt them than helping them.

Edited November 5, 2020 by putrevus

[Ankit_sharma03]

Expectation to start with, he was next to kohli and every expected him to be next kohli and its a huge pressure which many cant take. 

Same pressure has been forced on pant to be next dhoni ....why ?

 

Ppl need to understand for these kids fame money isnt easy to handle in 1st place at age of 19-20 then add the pressure of being dhoni n kohli can be to much. Talent and temperament are 2 different things

 

2nd not everyone from u-19 becomes a top player , domestic cricket is itself a journey 

Edited November 5, 2020 by Ankit_sharma03

[urbestfriend]

3 hours ago, Ankit_sharma03 said:

Expectation to start with, he was next to kohli and every expected him to be next kohli and its a huge pressure which many cant take. 

Same pressure has been forced on pant to be next dhoni ....why ?

 

Ppl need to understand for these kids fame money isnt easy to handle in 1st place at age of 19-20 then add the pressure of being dhoni n kohli can be to much. Talent and temperament are 2 different things

 

2nd not everyone from u-19 becomes a top player , domestic cricket is itself a journey 

people who? Every time a new player comes to the scene, naturally people will be excited about the prospects , and there will be expectations. Not everyone will be able to reach and cement their position at the top, but those who have strong mental ability coupled with good work ethics would make it. Shouldn't blame people for the expectations if the player  dont make it. 

[putrevus]

Some morons were saying Chand would have been Kohli if he was selected but Kohli kept him away because he was jealous of his talent.

[Ankit_sharma03]

2 hours ago, urbestfriend said:

people who? Every time a new player comes to the scene, naturally people will be excited about the prospects , and there will be expectations. Not everyone will be able to reach and cement their position at the top, but those who have strong mental ability coupled with good work ethics would make it. Shouldn't blame people for the expectations if the player  dont make it. 

 

Expectation to become dhoni or kohli in 2 yrs is not bizzare expectation, does this expectation comes with an understanding that players mostly take time to find their feet . 

They ll give examples of Names whom they ll forget have had theur own struggle 

[rkt.india]

On 11/5/2020 at 10:28 PM, putrevus said:

Some morons were saying Chand would have been Kohli if he was selected but Kohli kept him away because he was jealous of his talent.

Ian Chappell said he had to be selected early.

[Cricketics]

On 11/5/2020 at 11:58 AM, putrevus said:

Some morons were saying Chand would have been Kohli if he was selected but Kohli kept him away because he was jealous of his talent.

I think that latter part about jealousy was if I remember about KL Rahul recently. Don't think it was ever mentioned on ICF about Unmukt Chand at least since he started failing early in domestics and never reached the level of international cricket like Rahul did. 

 

People are right to what they want to say, I think it comes in frustration at times, don't think they mean it. Thats how I have started taking it. They don't really mean when they say it. Most things are said out of frustration. 

 

 

[Cricketics]

On 11/5/2020 at 7:22 AM, Ankit_sharma03 said:

 

 

Ppl need to understand for these kids fame money isnt easy to handle in 1st place at age of 19-20 then add the pressure of being dhoni n kohli can be to much. Talent and temperament are 2 different things

 

Like Gambhir. Unmukt comes from a pretty well-off family. Money reaching his head wasn't the case.

 

He admitted at times what went wrong. I feel he took IPL way too seriously, and the failures inside it. That started showing in his game even in Ranji. The pressure of Delhi cricket is immense, its been written a lot, don't think anyone would debate that. When other Delhi players like Nitish Rana or say guys like Kohli in earlier part start doing well, it because an issue if other youngsters are not performing upto the mark. And there in these guys like Unmukt have to be mentally strong. He was often even dropped from Delhi side, so forget about making to Indian side or Indian A side. 

 

He started losing the mental battle more than the game. He has admitted that bit too. This is where Rohit, Kohli Pujara, Rahane from similar batch were way ahead that whenever they went to domestics, they would pile on runs. Unmukt being junior to them could never do that. He struggled with weight of expectations after failures in iPL. 

 

 

[Ankit_sharma03]

26 minutes ago, Cricketics said:

Like Gambhir. Unmukt comes from a pretty well-off family. Money reaching his head wasn't the case.

 

Im not particularly talking of unmukt in terms of money but all these things can be too much for youngsters now it depends on individuals what affects them