Unmukt Chand pens a book sharing his World Cup experience
One day, Sanjay Manjrekar, former Test cricketer turned TV commentator, got a call from an unknown number. like all other anonymous calls, he didn’t pick it. Shortly after that he received a text message from the same number, saying: ‘Hello sir, this is Unmukt Chand. Trying to reach you.”
Manjrekar was a bit surprised to receive that call as he had never spoken to Unmukt before. They had never been formally or informally introduced. Out of courtesy, he called Unmukt back to know the reason for his call.
“I want to invite you to the launch function of my book,” Unmukt said. “BookIJ He is just 20 years old,” Manjrekar thought and hoped that the function is in Mumbai only so that he didn’t have to go far from his home. The function was in Delhi.
“I generally try to say no to functions but I had already committed to him (Unmukt),” Manjrekar said during the launch function of The Sky is the limit here on Saturday.
It was Unmukt’s first book and he couldn’t have chosen a better title for the book. The book is a compelling account of Unmukt’s journey, along with his teammates, to India’s triumph at the 2012 U-19 World Cup in Townsville, Australia. Through this book he vividly lives some of the finest moments of that famous campaign where he led his team from the front, scoring a century against hosts in the final. Since then, sky is indeed the limit for this vivacious cricketer.
“When I read the book, I realised that this guy (Unmukt) is a lot like me when I was 19. He has gone through the same things which I also went through during my under-19 days,” said Rahul Dravid, the other guest for the evening. Dravid’s presence was automatic since he is known to be the one who reads a lot.
The book is based on the dairy entries that Unmukt keeps since his early days as a cricketer. “I didn’t know that one day it will turn out to be this big. I always had this habit of keeping a diary of daily experiences. I told my uncle about it and he asked to write a book. I didn’t know how to approach it. I had never written a book. I talked to people how should I start. They told me to go through my diaries and write something at least. I started this book from when 30 of us gathered at the NCA to prepare for the World Cup,” Unmukt said.
“A very special cricketer,” Virat Kohli, who inspires Unmukt, commented on the cover of the book. Vivian Richards, the West Indies great, has done the foreword. “I do hope that anyone who has the opportunity to read this book will find it interesting. The reader will be captivated by his achievements and this should be an insight into what more can be attained in the future,” Richards wrote.
“Meeting him (Richards) was a dream come true. Before the meeting I had only watched his videos where he was seen thrashing bowlers all around the ground. When we met, he told me ‘when you played that knock in the final, I wanted to fly down to India and meet you’. That was really nice to hear from such a great batsman,” Unmukt recalled his first meeting with Richards.
The 20-year-old insisted that the book isn’t about him. It’s about the team and support staff that won the World Cup last year. In the book, he has shared his experiences of being the captain of a young side, the challenges he faced during the tournament and his own views about everything. He hoped that his teammates and the supports staff would like the book.