Robin Uthappa, former Kolkata Knight Riders team member and Indian wicket-keeper batsman said his vision of staging a comeback into the Indian team is still possible besides adding that is he focused on his job to perform well in the upcoming Indian Premier League (IPL) where he will represent Rajasthan Royals. The tournament is all set to begin on September 19 in the UAE.
Robin Uthappa, who is 34, played his first ODI in 2006 and made his T20I debut in 2007, but his last ODI and T20I came in 2015 and 2012 respectively.
Uthappa has only featured in 46 ODIs and 13 T20Is where he has accumulated 934 and 249 runs averaging 25.94 and 24.9 respectively besides having 5 and 1 half-centuries respectively. Robin Uthappa plays currently for Kerala since 2019 after representing Karnataka in the domestic circuit from 2002/2003 to 2016/2017 and Saurashtra in 2017 and 2018.
Robin Uthappa Still Believes His Chances Of Representing India Again Not Over
The player however still believes that he can return to the Indian team. The player has also represented various franchises in the past editions of IPL namely Mumbai Indians(2008), Royal Challengers Bangalore(2009 and 2010), Pune Warriors India(2011-2013)and Kolkata Knight Riders(2014-2019).
The franchise shared an audio clip of Uthappa answering a fan’s question in the Twitter handle.
“Do you believe that a strong IPL season could bring you back in the reckoning for Team India?” the question read.
Replying to the question, Uthappa said, “I certainly believe that if we have a really good season in the IPL, wonderful things can happen for me and even bring me back into the reckoning for the Indian team. I am someone who has always been positive as a human being and I always look for silver linings even in negative situations.”
In 2020 auction, he was bought by Rajasthan Royals for 3 crores after being released by KKR. In his IPL career so far, he has played 177 games where he scored 4,411 runs averaging 28.83 at a strike rate of 130.5. He was part of the Kolkata Knight Riders franchise that lifted the title twice in 2012 and 2014, but was not retained by KKR last year. He also was a member of the winning Indian team in the inaugural T20I World Cup in 2007.
Robin Uthappa Says Anyone Playing Competitive Cricket Still In Reckoning For Return To Indian Team
Robin Uthappa had a great season for KKR in 2014 when IPL was jointly hosted by UAE and India due to elections. He shone as an opener and also won the orange cap which is given to the cricketer who scored maximum runs in a season in IPL.
The experienced batsman scored 660 runs besides a record-breaking sequence of eleven matches of 40 and above runs, but could not repeat his form in the next few years. A poor form in 2018 and 2019 saw him being released from KKR.
“For me and the kind of person that I am, my convictions are very strong. God willing, I will be able to represent my country again and bring laurels to it. I hope that happens. Anyone who is playing competitive cricket hopes to play for the country and bring laurels to the country. So that dream is very much still alive,” Uthappa, who last played for India in 2015, added.
The tournament IPL was originally scheduled to start from 29th March in India but was postponed after covid-19 pandemic spread and IPL was moved abroad. The 13th edition of the IPL will be played for 53 days, from September 19 to November 10, across three venues in the UAE — Abu Dhabi, Sharjah, and Dubai.