Chennai Super Kings' (CSK) veteran batter Robin Uthappa opened up about one of the toughest phases of his career, which was during the 2009 edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL).
The wicketkeeper-batter played for Mumbai Indians (MI) in 2008, before moving to Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB). He scored just 175 runs in 15 games for RCB in IPL 2009, with just one half-century to his name despite the franchise reaching the final of the edition. The in-form batter has now opened up about his mental health during this period, and explained that prior to his move to RCB, he heard from MI that he would not play if he did not sign the transfer papers.
“I was going through something in my personal life and I was completely into depression during my first season with RCB. I didn’t play well even for one game that season. The only game in which I did well was when I was dropped and picked again. I played thinking that I really needed to do something in this match. Someone from MI had told me that if I didn’t sign the transfer papers, I’d not get to play in the XI for MI,” Uthappa said on R Ashwin’s Youtube channel.
“I feel like I played during the best phase of RCB. It was a phase in IPL where the first year was a lot of fun because everyone was finding ground. I think from the second year onwards, it became really big. So, I was along with Zaheer Khan and Manish Pandey. I was one of the first people to be transferred in IPL. For me, it became extremely difficult because my loyalties were completely laid out with MI at that point. It happened a month before the IPL and I refused to sign the transfer papers,” he added.
Uthappa made up for his previous shortcomings with an excellent season in 2010, scoring 374 runs in 16 games. The right-hander hit three half-centuries with the highest score of an unbeaten 68 in the 2010 season.
Uthappa joined the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in 2014, and was their best player that season in his role as an opener. He bagged the orange cap with 660 runs, including a record breaking sequence of 11 40-plus scores as KKR went on to win their second IPL trophy.
Since his departure from the Riders, Uthappa had a meagre season with Rajasthan Royals in 2020, before returning to his former self with the MS Dhoni-led Chennai Super Kings. He won the IPL trophy a second time in 2021, beating his former club KKR for CSK's fourth title. In IPL 2022 mega auction, he was roped in by CSK for his base price of Rs 2 crore.
