Robin Uthappa has always been an extraordinarily talented cricketer. He has previously been rewarded a place in the Indian Team quite a few times, yet, he couldn’t quite capitalize on the opportunities and after showing flashes of brilliance, was eventually dropped from the national side.
In 2017, though, we are watching a completely different Uthappa. He’s hitting the ball with almost a divine touch, often carting the best of bowlers into impunity. He cannot do anything wrong. So far, this has been the second best IPL of his IPL career and the way he’s going, this might end up as being his best IPL season, ahead of 2014, where he amassed 660 runs of 16 games at an average of 44.00 and a strike rate of 137.78.
This season, Uthappa has an incredible 331 runs of 9 games, at an almost unbelievable strike rate of 168.02 and an average of 41.37. More than the number of runs he has scored, it is the way he has scored them has got everyone talking. He’s driven with aplomb, pulled with grace, carted with unprecedented ease and hit the sweet spot more frequently than ever.
Uthappa’s performance has been so extraordinary and conspicuous to his KKR skipper Gautam Gambhir, who is himself trying to etch a comeback in the national side, that Gambhir has requested the national selectors to take a look at Uthappa’s performances and try and consider him ahead of himself. It’s a rare sight to see in Cricket, where one batsman who is himself trying to make a statement to get into the National side pitches for his colleague and requests the selectors to consider the other batsman ahead of himself, such phenomenal has been Utthapa’s performance in the ongoing tournament.
Against Delhi Daredevils, yesterday, Uthappa played a stunning knock against Zaheer Khan, Kagiso Rabada, Pat Cummins and Corey Anderson. Rabada and Cummins, young and fast, are two of the most talented youngsters out there and to rip them apart the way he did spoke volumes about the kind of red-hot form Uthappa is in! He eventually made 59 off 33, before eventually running himself out.
If this season doesn’t quite help Uthappa get in to the national side, we don’t know what will. It’s like players, before the IPL, are given a sheet with tasks to complete in order to make a case for a place in the national side. And Uthappa has been one batsman whose sheet, till the tournament ends, will have all boxes ticked, compelling the selectors to take note of the special form the special talent ha been in!
