The ongoing Ranji Trophy season has not been a good one for former U19 World Cup winning captain Unmukt Chand, and as a result, he was also dropped from playing XI in Delhi’s previous two games.
Even though Delhi decided to give regular players some rest, Unmukt did not find a place in the XI.
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However, he was forced to play a part in the ongoing Ranji Trophy game against Hyderabad after captain Rishab Pant left the field on the second day’s play. As per a report in Sportstar Unmukt, the occasional wicketkeeper replaced Rishab behind the stumps for the duration he was out of the field.
This was only made possible after the new rules have come into existence from October 1, 2017. Earlier, a substitute fielder was only allowed to replace a fielder and not the wicketkeeper, but now, a substitute fielder is allowed to keep wickets as well.
As a result, Unmukt performed the duties of the wicketkeeper,
“Earlier, a player only from the playing XI was allowed to don the gloves when the regular wicket-keeper was injured or out of action for any reason. Now, with the rule coming into force from October 1, 2017, any substitute can be the wicket-keeper in case of exigency,” Mr Chandrasekhar told Sportstar.
The report also adds that Unmukt was performing the role of a captain from his fielding position. It is to be noted that Milind Kumar, the vice-captain of Delhi, was dropped from the squad following his low scores in the initial games and Unmukt was the most senior player on the field barring Gautam Gambhir.
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Though Gautam Gambhir was also in attendance, he has already left the post of captain ahead of the season after he was replaced by Rishab Pant as the captain of Delhi in Vijay Hazare Trophy early this year.
Meanwhile, Delhi made a giant stride towards an innings win over the hosts by dismissing out their batsmen on 205, gaining a lead of 210 runs. In the second innings though, Hyderabad batsmen have shown grit, but there remains more than a day in the game, and Delhi bowlers would like to dismiss Hyderabad as early as possible to chase down the total if they are asked to do so.
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