IPL 2017: In-Form Robin Uthappa Dreams Of Playing For India Again

Apr 27, 2017 at 5:35 PM

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IPL 2017: In-Form Robin Uthappa Dreams Of Playing For India Again

With his bat doing the talk in the ongoing season of the Indian Premier League, Robin Uthappa has once again started harboring hopes of donning the Indian jersey.

The discarded India batsman came to the IPL after enduring a tough time with the bat in the domestic circuit.  An average of just 27.33 in the Ranji Trophy followed by only one half-century in the Vijay Hazare Trophy was never going to put him into selectors’ eyes.

Demotion in the batting lineup and a slow start in the IPL didn’t help matters either before the 2014 Orange Cap winner hit the top gear. After managing 30 runs in first three games, he scored 68 and 72 in the next three matches to roar back to form.

And his latest knock is enough to prove that the Kolkata Knight Riders star is back to his best. The right-handed batsman struck a whirlwind 87 off just 47 deliveries against Rising Pune Supergiant on Wednesday (April 26) to steer his team to a comfortable win.

“It is important to keep performing and I have been doing that,” Uthappa told ipl20.com after the win. “The dream is to play for India again and represent the country in Test matches. The dreams are there but one can’t think too far forward. You want to stay in the present and give your best foot forward. I believe hard work never goes unnoticed. I truly believe my turn will come.”

Chasing 182, the two-time IPL champions rode on half-centuries from Uthappa and Gautam Gambhir to chase down the total by losing just 3 wickets and with 11 balls remaining.

Speaking about the Supergiant’s batting performance, Uthappa said:“They batted well to get 182 and we pulled things back after the 16th over. They batted well again in the last two overs, so we knew we had to keep the run-rate going even after the first six overs. We could not take our foot off the pedal and we were looking to get nine runs from every over and we were in a very good position by the 15th over.”

He further said that he is confident enough to score at a brisk rate in the shortest format of the game despite not being able to bat during the powerplay overs.

“As a batsman, you lose out on the advantage of batting in the first six overs,” he admitted. “I have immense faith in my batting; I know I don’t need that kind of advantage to score the runs that I need to score for the team. I back myself and I am really confident and sure about my batting,” he added.

Uthappa also had a memorable outing in his wicketkeeping gloves. He became only the second wicketkeeper after MS Dhoni to effect three stumpings in an IPL match. The first stumping was that Ajinkya Rahane off the bowling of Sunil Narine while his other two victims were Dhoni and Manoj Tiwary in the 18th over off the bowling of Kuldeep Yadav. Both the batsmen failed to read the googly from the chinaman spinner and Uthappa played his part to perfection by dislodging the bails in a flash on both the occasion. He also became the first wicketkeeper to effect 30 stumping in the tournament, 1 more than MS Dhoni.

When asked about the amount of time he spent in the nets to understand Kuldeep’s variations, he said: “Obviously, you keep to him as often as you can in the nets and that helps in understanding what he is bowling and when he is bowling it. Also, during the course of the game you understand what the batsman is doing and what the bowler is probably going to bowl. So, there is a sense of anticipation as well. It worked today for me and I am very happy.”

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