Story … two Indian cricketers who won the Under-19 World Cup to the Indian team under their captaincy. Then they started being compared to the legendary cricketers, but with time both of them faded. One even made international debut for the Indian team, but could not play much matches. At the same time, if the other did not get a chance to play international cricket, then he turned to the outside country.
It is being talked about Prithvi Shaw and Unmukt Chand. There was a time when thousands of youths weaved of becoming a cricketer in the name of these two players. But those whom he went to believe in idol went into oblivion in a way. Not only talent in cricket … discipline, continuity and mental strength also matters. These three things may not be seen together and not seen in the earth.
First talk about Unmukt Chand. When Unmukt Chand hit an unbeaten century (111*) in the title match against Australia in the 2012 Under-19 World Cup, it felt as if Team India had found another big star of the future. He came to be called the Future Captain of Team India, but far away, he could never make a place in the senior team.
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The reason behind this was Unmukt Chand’s simple performance in domestic cricket. In domestic cricket, he played eight years free for Delhi and he also became the captain of Delhi during this period. Then he turned to Uttarakhand, where his performance remained average. His batting average in 67 first class matches was 31.57, which cannot be considered correct in terms of red-ball cricket. Apart from free domestic cricket, he could not do anything special in the Indian Premier League (IPL). In the IPL, Unmukt played 21 matches and scored just 300 runs from 15. Unmukt represented Delhi Capitals (DC), Rajasthan Royals (RR) and Mumbai Indians (Mi) in IPL.
The disinterest of the selectors also played an important role in derailing Unmukt Chand’s cricket career. When the doors of Unmukt for Team India were completely closed, they retired from Indian cricket in August 2021 and moved to the United States (USA). The 32 -year -old Unmukt has not yet got a chance to make his debut for the USA, but he is constantly playing cricket.
Since Unmukt Chand’s dream is now to make a place in the American team. In such a situation, he has started doing wicketkeeping too. Unmukt is currently participating in Major League Cricket (MLC) 2025 for Los Angeles Knight Riders. On 22 June 2025, Unmukt gave his team a brilliant victory by playing an unbeaten 86 off 58 balls against Seattle Orcas. He showed the world through this innings that there is still a lot of cricket left in them.
Now let’s talk about Prithvi Shaw. The 25-year-old Earth got fame at a very age, but gradually he came into the limelight due to more other reasons than the game. Prithvi Shaw scored more than 500 runs in a club match in 2013. Later, in the year 2018, Prithvi made the Indian team under-19 champions under its captaincy. The same year he made a Test debut against the West Indies in Rajkot and scored a century. After this, he was compared to great players like Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag.
The International Cricket Council (ICC) even named Prithvi in a video as ‘next Sachin Tendulkar’. Then it seemed that Prithvi would score runs in international cricket. But luck had something else approved. Prithvi played his last match for the Indian team on 25 July 2021 against Sri Lanka in Colombo. He was also a debut match of Earth in T20 International, in which he could not even open an account. After that match, he did not get a chance to play for India. Team India has been a distant thing for Prithvi now, they are not able to play domestic cricket properly.
Prithvi Shaw was dismissed from Mumbai team in the last season of Ranji Trophy. The biggest reason behind this became his poor fitness. Although Prithvi got a place in the team for Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2024-25, he was not selected for Vijay Hazare Trophy 2024-25. Not only this, the Earth could not become part of IPL 2025 because he was unsold in the mega auction.
Prithvi Shaw has also been associated with controversies. Due to doping in the year 2019, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) banned Earth for 8 months. Such reports also came out about the Prithvi that his behavior in the dressing room was not better. During the coronal period, he was also accused of violating rules as he had gone out to go to Goa to celebrate e-pass. In the year 2023, Earth had a fight with Sapna Gill and her friends. The matter had reached the court and is still not completely resolved.
Prithvi Shaw has played 5 Tests, six ODIs and a T20 match for the Indian team so far. During this, he has scored 339 runs in Tests and 189 runs in ODI International. Prithvi was seen playing for North Mumbai Panthers in the Mumbai T20 League some time ago. Now he will get involved in the preparations for the upcoming domestic season. Anyway, Prithvi wants to play for another state association except Mumbai in the next domestic season, so that he can give a new dimension to his cricket career. For this, he has requested the Mumbai Cricket Association Association (MCA) to give a No Objection Certificate (NOC). Now it has to be seen whether the fate of the earth changes when the team changes …
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