Robin Uthappa has officially become the first transfer before the start of the 2017/18 season. The veteran batsman has bid adieu to his state side Karnataka, after representing the state for 15 seasons.

All was going well between the association and Uthappa before he was dropped from the side for the Ranji quarter-final against Tamil Nadu last year. Further, he was not included in the 15-member squad for Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy as well, which added to the differences between the two and from then, there were talks of him mulling to switch state in the next season due to increasing number of youngsters in the team.

Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA) has issued the No Objection Certificate (NOC) to the outgoing batsman, though Uthappa is yet to reveal his new destination for the upcoming season,

“I had a long chat with Robin and he had his reasons for moving out. We tried to hold him back but couldn’t, so we had to issue the NOC as per his request. His contribution to Karnataka cricket is immense and we wish him the best always,” Sudhakar Rao, KSCA Secretary told TOI.

It has been learnt that discarded India batsman will now head to Kerala for the upcoming season as a professional, being the second one in this role, as last year Jalaj Saxena too joined Kerala as a professional.

Uthappa, who is still vying for a place in the Indian team, made his ODI debut in the year 2006 against England at Indore. He shone in his first ODI and played an innings of 86, before getting run out in a casual way. He went on to appear in 45 more ODIs and also played 13 T20Is.

Uthappa last donned the national jersey in 2015 during the tour Zimbabwe. He is yet to make a return to the India team from then and with Indian selectors open to give a space to more than one wicketkeeper in the side, it’s an opportunity for him to bid for a spot at the stage before age jeopardise his hopes of making a comeback.