Unmukt hoping to make a good start

The U-19 World Cup-bound squad’s preparatory camp, that included a boot camp at the Nagarhole Wildlife Sanctuary, at the National Cricket Academy came to a conclusion on Thursday.

Skipper Unmukt Chand shared a few thoughts with the media ahead of team’s departure on Friday morning to Mumbai from where they will fly to Australia on Saturday.

Meanwhile, there have been two replacements in the side -- Manan Vohra, who has an injured finger, has been replaced by Hanuma Vihari while Ravikant Singh comes in place of an indisposed Mohsin Sayyed (viral fever).

On the camp: It was really good. We have played in Australia and so we knew the things we had to work on. We were specific on the things we had to work on. We tried to plug the gaps that came across in the last three-four tournaments and tried to strengthen our basics. It was also important to get into the match groove before a big tournament like the World Cup. Many of us got into the groove (in practice matches) – some scored well, some took wickets. It helped analyse things and we got a few good lessons to learn. It was more about giving a chance to everyone.

Pressure of expectations: Not at all. We’ve been enjoying each other’s company. We’ve always tried to rectify the errors. If we do the right things again, we will be hopeful about this tournament as well.

On Yuvraj Singh’s praise: It’s really inspiring when people compare me to Virat (Kohli) and all. You feel happy about it but then you have to continue scoring runs and contribute to the team’s cause. It’s all about performing well on a consistent basis.

The USP of the team: It’s both batting or bowling. We have been doing well in all the three departments of the game for some time now. Batting has clicked sometimes and bowling has clicked on the other occasions. Everyone is chipping in really well. I can’t say that batting is our strength or bowling is our strength. We have chased 280 plus targets easily in some matches and have restricted opponents to 200 in others.

On easy group-stage: It’s the World Cup and we are not taking any of the teams lightly. We will try to get into the groove from the very beginning. It took some time for us to adjust in the quadrangular series (also in Australia). This time we want to grab the momentum right from the very beginning. That’s where practice matches help.

On captaincy: When I bat, I don’t think about captaincy at all. It’s only on the field that I think about it. You need to demarcate these two tasks. Captaincy doesn’t affect me. On the other hand, it has helped to own up more responsibility while batting. Earlier I used to be a bit casual in my approach to batting.