It is wrong to blame Indian Premier league (IPl) for India’s Test series loss in England, said Unmukt Chand, skipper of India’s under-19 World Cup winning team in 2012, on Wednesday.
According to the 21-year-old Delhi cricketer, IPl provides good platform for the youngsters to gain from the experience of top international cricketers who are there in your team.
“With IPl, many of the young players got a chance to interact with the top internationals cricketers. This was something that was impossible in the past if you had not played for the country,” Unmukt said on the sidelines of a promotional event.
“This experience is precious for a cricketer. It helps in building his overall personality and developing his skills. I have gained a lot being part of Rajasthan Royals and before that Delhi Daredevils,” he added.
Unmukt feels the popular perception that Indians are more focused on T20 cricket is wrong as BCCI gives equal weightage to all the three formats of the game. “If you look at the domestic calendar, we play all the three formats. We have a long Ranji Trophy season and then the one-dayers and the T20s.
“So much importance is given to the Ranji Trophy that you can’t take out Test cricket from any player’s blood,” Unmukt said.
‘Dream Team 15’ programme launched
Rajasthan Royals Wednesday announced its association with the South Australian Government to identify 15 young Indian cricketers and give them an opportunity to travel to Adelaide as part of Adelaide’s ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 program.
Rajasthan Royals will use its expertise to select 15 young cricketers who will make up the Dream Team 15.
Youngsters born between Jan 1, 1997, and Dec 31, 1999, will qualify to enter the competition for a chance to be selected.
The program will reach out to students from schools from different parts of the country while the selection trials will be held in Delhi and Mumbai in late October and early November 2014 in the search to identify a group of 15 cricketers.
Adelaide Oval will host what is considered to be one of the biggest matches in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 program when defending champions India take on Pakistan in the first match Feb 15. The members of the Dream Team 15 will be watching the event.