Robin Uthappa has named the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) the ‘most secure’ franchise for which he has played. Notably, he was earlier a part of the Gautam Gambhir-led Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) for six seasons as well.
However, after having two poor shows, he smashed an imperious 44-ball 63 in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021 Qualifier 1 against Delhi Capitals (DC) and took the team to the finish line. With this, they reached the final for the ninth time.
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“I always maintain that this (CSK) has been one of the most secure franchises going around, and they believe in making everyone feel secure within the group, and I think that only makes a player give that much more to the franchise. After KKR, when Gautam was the captain, I really enjoyed myself there, and felt secure in that group, but after that, this is the most secure I’ve felt while playing cricket in a while,” continued Uthappa after the convincing win.
He further added: “Happy that I was able to contribute. Today is my son’s fourth birthday, and this one’s for him. It was the first over when I went out to bat. We knew we needed a good start, so I just tried to react to the ball and play according to the merit.”
While chasing 173, CSK lost their in-form opener Faf du Plessis in the very first over. Robin Uthappa and Ruturaj Gaikwad then stitched 110 runs off 77 deliveries to set the stage. And, later the captain MS Dhoni took the team home. It is also noteworthy that, this was his third game for CSK on Sunday after sitting out for 12 games this season as well.
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“There were days when there were doubts, to be honest; when you don’t get to play, these doubts tend to creep in. You also listen to a lot of chatters that are going outside, and I try to make sure I shut myself from the outside world. I just stuck to that, and I just felt that at some point I would be able to contribute to the team in a really meaningful way, and I’m really grateful to God that I have been able to do that today,” concluded Robin Uthappa.
