Former India U-19 captain Unmukt Chand heaped praise on Gautam Gambhir’s leadership during his tenure as the Delhi cricket team captain and claimed the selection politics in the association eventually harmed his career in Indian cricket.
The 32-year-old Chand, who currently plays in the United States, said several players’ career was hampered after Gambhir’s retirement from Delhi cricket.
“Until 2017, when Gautam Gambhir remained Delhi captain, nothing went wrong in the team because he was a very strong leader. He fought for players and backed them. But when he retired, Delhi cricket went through plenty of upheaval. Nitish (Rana) was dropped, Dhruv (Shorey) was doing well, and he was dropped too. And everyone knows what’s happening,” Chand told Lallantop.
Chand opened up on being dropped by the Delhi side seven years after his First-Class debut and slammed the Delhi selectors for their decision that eventually put his career at a crossroads. Chand moved to Uttarakhand in 2019 before calling it quits from all forms of Indian cricket in 2021 and moving to the United States.
“You can call it politics because they threw me out. It has never happened that you remove the captain of India A from your state team. I can’t put the blame on one person, but in a way, the selectors of DDCA are the ones taking such decisions. I felt bad that I served the Delhi team for such a long time and did reasonably well too, and then they made me the scapegoat,” he added.
Chand shot to the limelight after leading India to victory in the 2012 Under-19 World Cup with a century in the final against Australia. However, despite his promising start, he never broke into the Indian national team. Meanwhile, Gambhir who had a brief stint in Delhi politics post his playing career, turned to coaching last year. The former India opener first mentored Kolkata Knight Riders to victory in the IPL 2024 season before taking over from Rahul Dravid as India’s head coach, propelling them to the Champions Trophy win earlier this year.
