Robin Uthappa’s Storied Career in Indian Cricket Comes to a Halt
The first Indian to score a 50 in T20I, Uthappa bid adieu to all forms of "Indian cricket" on Wednesday.
advertisement
Who was the first Indian to score a 50 in a T20 international? This one is forever going to be a question at pub quizzes that will be a brain tease.
Do you give up?
Hint: The man has some link to 14 September.
Well, here is the answer, Robin Venu Uthappa.
That half-century was scored on 14 September during India’s match against Pakistan in the inaugural World T20 in 2007. He was the top scorer.
Later, when India had to break the logjam with Pakistan when the match ended in a tie during regular time, Uthappa turned his arm over too. He starred in India’s 3-0 win over Pakistan. That’s right, the final result was 3-0 in a cricket game.
Back then, the bowl out was the method used to find a winner in a tied encounter in T20 cricket. It required each side to have five strikes at the stationary stumps. India struck thrice and Uthappa’s slow medium bowling was one of the successes.
That India has never been able to recreate the magic of 2007 is evidence of just how the young guns including Uthappa played a part in India’s triumph. Of course, the story of Uthappa really took off about nine days before this 14 September encounter, during the sixth ODI at The Oval against England.
India was behind 2-3 in the series and needed to win the encounter to keep the series alive. Uthappa came in at a difficult time in the high-pressure chase and in the company of Mahendra Singh Dhoni kept Indian hopes alive which had nosedived following a collapse.
Uthappa’s famous walking shot even to the quick bowlers made everyone sit up and take notice.
Uthappa was not really being played regularly by India during the ODI series and that knock gave a huge fillip to his story. Till then Uthappa was an 'also-ran' who did not really catch everyone's notice.
Of course, his debut as an Indian ODI cricketer was eventful as well. He was in Mumbai playing for his beloved Karnataka when, late in the evening, his selection was announced by the Board of Control for Cricket in India.
He was in his hotel room in South Mumbai when the writer met him just minutes after his selection was made public. Thrilled as he was at the age of 20, the world awaited him. It did not take long for his name to become famous.
He opened with the then Indian captain Rahul Dravid during the sixth ODI against England in 2005-06 on a belter of a pitch at Indore. India was chasing 288 and achieved it quite effortlessly.
From there on, the Uthappa story had many twists and turns. He was picked for the West Indies tour that followed, but his appearances were sporadic.
When he finally returned to the ODI squad before the 2007 World Cup, there was still no guarantee that he would make it to the final 15 for the showpiece event.
Eventually by a quirk of fate, Uthappa made it to the World Cup at the expense of left-handed batsman Gautam Gambhir. This caused a lot of debate, but Uthappa’s additional bowling ability, which was rarely used, was cited as a possible reason.
For a young 21-year-old to open in an ODI despite the presence of the big three – Sourav Ganguly, Virender Sehwag, and Sachin Tendulkar – was a big call. To accommodate Uthappa at the top of the order, the then Indian head coach Greg Chappell and skipper Dravid pushed Tendulkar down the order.
Even Sehwag batted at the number one slot as Uthappa opened the batting with Ganguly.
This was a very unpopular decision as Uthappa was at the centre of what was then a major fracas in the Indian dressing room between Chappell and the senior pros.
Chappell was forcing the seniors out of their comfort zones and Uthappa, like most youngsters at the time, became the face of the change.
Of course, the World Cup ended in a disaster for India, but Uthappa will again forever be remembered for being at the receiving end of a terrific catch by the ultra-heavy Dwayne Leverock during the clash against Bermuda.
Post the T20 World Cup win, Uthappa’s career was a bit of a roller coaster ride. He was expected to become a part of the young brigade which would work under Dhoni, especially in the shorter formats.
Meanwhile on the field, the senior pros occupied their usual slots without much debate in the Test match format. Then there were the likes of Yuvraj Singh who were waiting to step in whenever the Test squad had a vacancy.
So, the likes of Uthappa were forever fighting to stay afloat in the shorter formats. But just as he was establishing, two young boys, Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, entered the game. Both these young men slowly but surely started filling in the gaps whenever the senior guys opted out of a bilateral white ball series.
In their own ways, they were consistent and that dented the hopes of Uthappa. The likes of Suresh Raina did different roles, and his consistent off-spin also helped his cause.
In fact, his last ODI and T20I for India was as a wicket-keeper on the 2015 tour to Zimbabwe. But it was obvious that it was too little too late. With the larger-than-life presence of Dhoni and the presence of forever back-ups like Parthiv Patel and Karthik, it was always going to be tough for Uthappa.
Then there were others like Naman Ojha and Wriddhiman Saha being called up from time to time. Later, the younger lot of Ishan Kishan, Sanju Samson, and Rishabh Pant put paid to all future hopes.
The only source of excitement then was about performing in the IPL. He travelled a bit during the IPL, navigating across various franchises. He played for six teams in all in the IPL. His best performances came with Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), where he formed a terrific combo with captain Gambhir.
Seven years ago in 2007, Uthappa had replaced Gambhir in the World Cup squad, but in KKR, both were a force to reckon with. Uthappa even won the orange cap for scoring the most runs (660) in the 2014 season. This was instrumental in KKR winning the IPL title for the second time in 2014.
That IPL performance should ideally have catapulted Uthappa back in the white ball scheme of things. But then the separation of squads and players was not as well defined as it is today. Hence Uthappa missed out.
Eventually as time passed, we realised that this phase was tough on Uthappa, who came out openly and spoke about mental health. He was the first Indian cricketer to openly speak about it, Uthappa even talked about contemplating suicide, and how he overcame the phase.
This was way before even the most recent pronouncement by Kohli on the same matter.
Eventually when his time with KKR ended in 2020, the end was nigh. He eventually finished with Chennai Super Kings where he did quite well and played a part in the side making it to the 2021 final.
A disastrous 2022 campaign meant that CSK began looking to recast the side and hence eventually the decision by Uthappa.
Interesting that Uthappa took a call on 14 September, the day he first came into prominence 15 years ago. Time may have flown by, but Uthappa’s bow will forever be remembered.
All the best Robbie for the next and the best phase of your life. Go well!
(Chandresh Narayanan is a former cricket writer with The Times of India, The Indian Express, ex-Media Officer for ICC, and the Delhi Daredevils. He is also the author of World Cup Heroes, Cricket Editorial consultant, a professor and cricket TV commentator.)
(At The Quint, we question everything. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member today.)