Kerala was always my first option after Karnataka, says Robin Uthappa
Robin Uthappa, who signed up with Kerala recently, has admitted that Kerala was always his first preference after Karnataka. Uthappa served Karnataka for well over a decade, playing 101 first-class matches and scoring 6865 runs and being part of the 2013-14 and 2014-15 Ranji wins.
After leaving Karnataka in 2017, Uthappa had joined the side from the north, Saurashtra. However, the last two years have not been the best for Uthappa, both at the domestic level and in the IPL. He was plagued with injury concerns throughout last season, causing him to miss the entire Ranji Trophy and Vijay Hazare trophy with Saurashtra.Â
Now, the 33-year-old has put all that behind and returned to his mother’s land for a fresh start. The new journey began at the BGS grounds on Monday, when he turned out for Kerala Cricket Association against HPCA in the Dr. (Capt.) K. Thimmappiah Memorial cricket tournament.
“It feels good. Kerala was always my first option after Karnataka because of the connection on my mother’s side. It’s a team I always felt I’d play for at some point. This is a great bunch of boys, a team with a lot of potential,” Uthappa was quoted as saying by Sportstar.
After missing the first two matches of the tournament due to personal commitments, Uthappa led the KCA XI side as stand-in skipper for Sachin Baby. He remained unbeaten on 25 at the close of play as Kerala CA reached 38 for one in reply to HPCA’s 208.
The top-order batsman noted that blending into the side has been smooth, as he spoke fluent Malayalam. This wasn’t the case for him with Saurashtra.
“The only remotely challenging thing with Saurashtra was the language, even though I picked it up over the two years. It’s an issue I don’t have this time. I speak the language. Plus I've played with a lot of these boys before – Sachin Baby, Sandeep Warrier, Rohan Prem, and K.M. Asif. It's been great interacting with the players,” he said.
After an injury plagued 2018-19 season, he even underwent surgery on his ankle in the UK before returning in time for the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy and then playing in the IPL with KKR. Now, Uthappa looks forward to a good season with Kerala, as they aim to do one better than last season’s semi-final appearance in the Ranji Trophy.
“I'm physically fit, I'm happy. I’m looking forward to a good season ahead. We have a great bunch of fast bowlers, some good young players. Kerala got to the Ranji Trophy semi-final last time; we need to build on that. Let's play to our potential and see how far we can go. Obviously, the goal is always to compete for championships,” he added.
Uthappa played 101 first-class matches for Karnataka, scoring 6865 runs with 18 hundreds, and was part of the all-conquering side that won successive Ranji Trophy titles in 2013-14 and 2014-15.
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