In 2006, India was locking horns with England in the final ODI of the seven-match series in Indore and they were chasing a target of 288 runs. To open the innings with captain Rahul Dravid walked in a young opening batsman from Karnataka, Robin Uthappa and the latter played a brilliant knock of 86 runs from 96 balls, which was then the highest score on an ODI debut by an Indian.
Uthappa was touted to have a prolonged international career, but he failed to find opportunities on a regular basis, eventually falling away from the limelight of Team India. However, he went on to have a great career in the Indian Premier League. During a recent interaction, Robin Uthappa pointed out what probably be the reason behind him not having a long career for India in limited-overs cricket.
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While playing for India, Robin Uthappa played 46 ODIs and 13 T20Is for India between 2006 and 2015. However, he never got a fixed batting position. Despite being given an opportunity to open the batting at such a young age, Uthappa was continuously moved around in the batting line-up. He played 16 innings as an opener, seven at no. 3, five at no. 5, six at no. 6, and eight at no. 7. He said he could have played more games for India, had he batted at one place for a longer course of time.
During a recent chat on The Grade Cricketer’s YouTube channel, Robin Uthappa said, “That has happened to me throughout my international career. If you go and look at my stats, you will see I have not played in more than one batting position for more than three innings. Every third game, I have moved around to a new position. If I had played at one position for 49 games, then I would have played for 149 games or 249 games for India because I was that good.”
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He further added, “I did that at the time because it helped the team, but in turn, it affected my career stats,” reflecting on his international career, which had some fond memories as well. The right-handed batsman, who now plays for Kerala and Chennai Super Kings, was part of the 2007 ICC T20 World Cup triumph and also the Commonwealth Bank Tri-Series win in Australia in 2008.
