IPL 2018 | Robin Uthappa enjoys being a senior figure in the team being vice-captain, says Katich

04/08/2018

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KKR assistant coach Simon Katich has claimed that Robin Uthappa, who has been a mainstay figure in the Kolkata Knight Riders since 2014, enjoys being a senior figure in the team. Katich has also added that the U-19 players that they have in the team will have a major role to play in this years IPL.

One of the many positive outcomes of the IPL was that it allowed domestic cricketers, who were not a part of the national team setup, to improve their game and prove their worth by virtue of their performance in the league. The case of Robin Uthappa is an example of such an occurrence, a player who started off with the Mumbai Indians, moved on to Royal Challengers Bangalore and then to Pune Warriors after he eventually settled at Eden Gardens as part of the Kolkata Knight Riders squad since 2014.

Uthappa managed to win the orange cap during his first year itself for the KKR outfit where he scored 660 runs over the course of the tournament. Most of that success came when he was paired with former skipper Gautam Gambhir as an opener. But WhKatich was unsure if while lauding the batsman, Katish also added that he was unsure if Uthappa would come out as opener this year as he revealed that Uthappa could bat at number four position as well.

“It depends on the balance. When Chris got injured, we got Sunil (Narine) to open and he provided a really good kickstart to the innings. The beauty is all of them are experienced players. Robin often came at No 4 last time, which was uncommon, and still managed strike rates of around 160 (165.10). Most players who do that need to use the power play…He also moves well around the field and enjoys being a senior figure in the team being vice-captain,” Katich was quoted as saying by Hindustan Times.

The assistant coach had a few criticisms for the team as well on the basis their performance on the field in the last year’s tournament. Katich said that KKR put up one of the worst fielding performances last year and have worked harder in their fitness drills ahead of the IPL 2018.

“That is a big area we focused on. Our fielding last year was one of the worst in the competition. A lot of the time it comes down to not only your attitude on the field but also personnel. We feel that with the group we have got now, with a lot of younger players in the squad, we feel we will have a lot more pace and energy on the field than last year.

“Even in the fielding drills we have done so far, the amount of times we are hitting the stumps now compared to the previous couple of years is a big difference. So, hopefully that is an area we improve as well in terms of getting run outs and creating run-out opportunities,” Katich added.

IPL 2018 | Robin Uthappa enjoys being a senior figure in the team being vice-captain, says Katich

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