Unmukt Chand kicked off his Major League Cricket (MLC) season with a half-century for Shah Rukh Khan co-owned team, Los Angeles Knight Riders. Coming out to bat at number 3, the former India U-19 World Cup-winning captain slammed 53 off just 32 balls. Batting with a strike rate of 165.62, Unmukt hit 4 sixes and as many fours.

His efforts, though, didn't prove to be enough as LA fell short by 32 runs in the big chase of 220. Andre Russell departed for a duck. Sunil Narine, who opens the innings for Kolkata Knight Riders in IPL, came out to bat at number 8. He scored 27 off 13 balls. Narine is leading KKR's sister franchise in MLC.

Russell went for 42 runs and scalped 1 wicket in his four-over spell. Narine also went for 42 runs and scalped a wicket.

Going into the fixture, all eyes were on Unmukt and he proved himself with the bat. The right-handed batsman will hope to continue his form and make it to the USA cricket team.

Unmukt was expected to lead the team in the 2024 T20 World Cup but was ignored. He hasn't played international cricket for USA yet.

Unmukt Chand retired from Indian cricket in August 2021 and moved to USA. He cannot make his return to Indian cricket now. Since he is now a US citizen, Unmukt can play IPL. He registered for the IPL 2025 mega-auction.

Unmukt started his IPL career with Delhi Capitals (then known as Delhi Daredevils). He also played for Rajasthan Royals and Mumbai Indians (MI). He was part of the Rohit Sharma-led MI team which won the IPL 2015 trophy. He last played for them in 2016. Unmukt, a former Delhi captain, also played for Uttarakhand in domestic cricket.

Get Latest News Live on Times Now along with Breaking News and Top Headlines from Sports, Cricket and around the world.