Robin Uthappa is well aware of the captaincy styles of Gautam Gambhir and Dinesh Karthik.
He played the last four seasons of IPL under Gambhir’s captaincy and is now doing the same under Karthik’s captaincy at Kolkata Knight Riders.
But while Uthappa is yet to get much taste of Karthik’s captaincy, he is well aware of the difference between Karthik and Gambhir’s captaincy.
Speaking after the win over Rajasthan Royals, Uthappa opened up on the difference between the two’s captaincy.
“Gauti and DK are very different personalities. DK is someone who thinks a lot, who likes a lot of information but at the same time he leaves enough room for instinct as a captain to be proactive and make decisions, which is wonderful,” said the 32-year-old.
“Gauti has been more of an instinctive captain. He has been naturally very proactive as a captain. So both are very different personalities but still have the most important characteristics required as a captain in this format,” he added.
Kolkata Knight Riders’ season was in danger of getting derailed. The two-time IPL champions had started the season on a good note, dismantling Royal Challengers Bangalore at home.
However, they lost pace with other teams after losing two consecutive games.
But the Knight Riders bounced back at the right moment to bring their game on track. After two defeats, they dismantled Delhi Daredevils by 71 runs to get back to winning ways.
On Wednesday, they came up with another all-round performance to get the better of Rajasthan Royals. Bowling first, they restricted the hosts to 160 for eight. In reply, they chased down the total with utmost ease in the 19th over, winning the game comprehensively by seven wickets. The win also helped the Knight Riders to move to the top of the points table.
The two biggest architects of the win were Uthappa and Nitish Raina. Uthappa set the tone for the chase with his composed 48.
On the other hand, Rana scored an unbeaten 35 and picked up two crucial wickets. It helped him win his second successive man-of-the-match award.
Speaking about his batting, Uthappa said:
“I have been striking the ball pretty well. I had an off-colour domestic season, but I never felt I was not hitting the ball well, it was just about the runs. I am happy to be continuing in the same vein, making a difference to the team but I still think it is early days and I need to keep getting better. I hope to get better with the matches happening now.”
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He further lavished praise on Rana.
“Nitish has a very firm head on his shoulders, reads the game very well and is also very confident. If he can continue performing in the way he has been over the last couple of seasons, he gives himself a good chance to grow as a cricketer,” concluded Uthappa.