From being a podgy kid to a youngster who can pack a punch with his bat, Robin Uthappa has come a long way. A decade back, Uthappa, a regular wicket-keeper batsman with the St. Joseph's School cricket team, caught the eye for his range of shots and a widening girth.
The lad with mixed roots – his father is a Kodava and his mother is a Malayalee — had acquired a taste for pandi (pork) curry, which is intrinsic to Coorgi cuisine, and had piled on the kilos. With cricket remaining a passion, Uthappa resolved to lose weight, avoided his favourite food and emerged as a youngster to watch out for as he made steady progress. Uthappa soon turned out for Karnataka in the Ranji Trophy and in the meanwhile also caught the eye of Dilip Vengsarkar, who was the then chairman of the talent development wing of the Board of Control for Cricket in India.
One fine day
Uthappa eventually made his debut for India in the One Day International against England at Indore in 2006. He scored a fine 86 that set up an Indian triumph and Uthappa seemed set to rule. It proved to be a roller-coaster ride subsequently with the high-point being the ICC World Twenty20 title triumph in South Africa in 2007 and the low being his gradual fade-out during the Asia Cup at Karachi in 2008.
By then Uthappa had played 38 ODIs, scoring 786 runs besides nine T20 games that yielded 149 runs. Grounded from the national team, Uthappa bided his time with Karnataka in the first class circuit and also led the State in the recent Ranji Trophy final that Mumbai won at Mysore.
He may not have set the latest first-class season on fire but he surely has regained his power and poise as evident in his stellar with the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in the current DLF Indian Premier League. Uthappa has scored 284 runs in the first 11 games at an enviable strike-rate of 179.94. He has been a sudden-impact player and even his eight-ball 22 that stumped King's XI Punjab at Mohali had the fans raving about his big-hitting prowess. “I have played Brett Lee in Tests and ODIs and the way Uthappa hit him was incredible,” said Kevin Pietersen.
Uthappa earlier had caned the Chennai Super Kings attack on his home-ground, the Chinnaswamy Stadium, and recently bruised Kolkata Knight Riders with another blistering half century. “All the hard work I put in during the off-season is beginning to pay off,” said Uthappa while RCB coach Ray Jennings hoped that the 24-year old would cut out the risky reverse sweep. But such is the temerity of youth; Uthappa continues to play the shot and even struck a tricky customer like Ajantha Mendis out of the park.
It is two years since he played for India but Uthappa hopes that the current IPL and other subsequent opportunities will pave the way for his return to the higher level. Until then he will continue to put the ‘fear of God' among bowlers at the first-class level.
Robin Files
Robin Uthappa goes beyond the label of just being a young batsman. He is a polyglot and can speak English, Hindi, Kannada, Kodava, Malayalam and Tamil with ease. “I picked up Tamil while watching Sun TV's comedy time at night with my dad Venu Uthappa, who is also a hockey umpire and besides I used to talk to the security guard in my apartment complex,” Uthappa had revealed during an earlier chat with The Hindu.
The youngster also wears a business hat with ease. Besides his coffee estate in Coorg, Uthappa along with S. Sreesanth and J.K. Mahendra runs the Bat and Ball Inn at Bangalore, with its array of cricketing memorabilia that will enthuse the game's followers. “We want to give a complete cricket experience to our guests,” said Uthappa.
When he is not playing cricket, Uthappa hangs out with his buddies - cue-sports champion Pankaj Advani and swimmer Shikha Tandon.
A movie-buff, Uthappa often checks out the latest flicks along with his pals and his sister.
