Unmukt Chand, who captained India to the Under-19 World Cup trophy in 2012, on Friday said he is bidding farewell to Indian cricket and moving on to "the next innings" of his life. The 28-year-old put up a series of four tweets with the caption "On to the next innings of my life". The first tweet came with series of pictures with a long message, while the second tweet also had a message. The next two were video montages from his playing days along with an old Bollywood song in the background.
At the end of his long message, Unmukt Chand wrote "I would like to say that things have not been smooth in the last few years and opportunities have been denied."
"Though a part of me is not at peace with the way things have unfolded in the last few years, I still choose to see the silver lining and fondly bid adieu to BCCI and seek better opportunities around the world," he wrote.
Unmukt Chand said that he has grown up playing cricket and dreamt of playing for India. He wrote that he is grateful for the milestones he has achieved and added that his journey is "only halfway through".
He thanked the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) for all its support and wrote about his memories from his U-19, India A and Indian Premier League days, but said that "sometimes things don't pan out as imagined and makes us take life changing decisions."
He wrote that he is an eternal optimist and hoped that the road ahead of him will lead him to "an exciting new journey."
Unmukt Chand captained India in the 2012 U-19 World Cup and led the team to the title. In the final, against Australia, he scored an unbeaten 111 to help India chase down their target of 226 runs.
Chand has played 67 First Class matches and 120 List A games, along with 77 T20s.