Robin Uthappa Profile by CricketArchive

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Player:

RV Uthappa

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DateLine: 7th June 2008

 

Sturdy and well built, Robin Uthappa is the son of an international hockey referee but chose to make cricket his career instead. He has played Ranji Trophy for a long time and consistently done well till the selectors could no longer ignore a player like him. He plundered 854 runs in 7 Ranji matches in 2006-07 to top the batting charts and at one time, also did the dual role of a wicketkeeper-batsman, but has given up the gloves to concentrate on his batting. A good fielder anywhere on the field, he also occasionally bowls mediumpace.

 

He is an aggressive batsman, has almost every shot in the book and some cheeky ones too. The walk down the wicket and the subsequent hit over long off is his best shot but he has a weakness of regularly hitting the ball in the air, which has been his downfall for so long.

 

A useful member of the India under-19 team that won the Asia Cup, in the Challenger trophy, Mohali 2006, he cracked a matchwinning 93-ball 100 for India B against an India A team. He made his debut against England in 2006, and cemented his place with a well made 86. After a brief hiatus out of the team, he again got a chance in the sixth ODI against England at The Oval and scored an unbeaten 47 off only 33 balls to help India win the match.

 

He was instrumental in two big wins for Indian cricket in the 2007-08 season, with the T20 world cup win and the CB series win in Australia. Due to his burgeoning reputation, he was bought by the Mumbai Indians to play for them in the IPL.