Picture Credit: Twitter
Former India U19 World Cup-winning skipper Unmukt Chand recently retired from Indian cricket to seek a career in the sport in the United States of America. While his ultimate dream is to be part of the Major League Cricket, but since that has been postponed till 2023, he is currently featuring in the Minor League Cricket which has matches scheduled on the weekend.
While he hadn't got off to a great start to his career in the USA, getting bowled on a duck, the Silicon Valley Strikers opener reached his maiden half-century in the tournament and brought it up in some style with a six. Chasing 132 for victory, Chand played the anchor role to perfection and faced 57 balls for his unbeaten 56, ensuring that his side wins the match with seven balls to spare. The video of the shot that he played to his half-century is trending online.
Check out the video here:
In a recent interview, Unmukt also confirmed that he will try to stay in the USA for 10 months every year to complete the residency period. This is because only after that criteria can he be eligible to play international cricket for the USA.
"Yes, I can opt for that. It’s only the timeframe, you know ICC rules, you have to spend 10 months in a year to qualify for the country. So I got to spend 10 months every year in the US, for the next three years. After that, I qualify to play for the country, and I am all free. Then I can play as many leagues as possible, but for the next three years, I can be out of the country for just two months every year. So that means I have to choose my leagues wherever I want to play," Unmukt told Sportskeeda.
This means during the 2-month window, Unmukt can play in any league except the Indian Premier League. This is because as per the BCCI's rules, an Indian player cannot play domestic cricket or IPL once he plays in leagues of any other country. Apart from Unmukt, the former Mumbai Indians star, Smit Patel, Harmeet Singh and Milind Kumar are among the players who have moved to the USA. In fact, Smit and Harmeet were the cricketers' teammates at the U-19 World Cup in 2012.