FS09
Robin Uthappa, the 20-year-old from Karnataka is one of the rising
stars of Indian cricket.
Uthappa shot into fame in the four nation Under-19 Asia Cup held in
Pakistan in November 2003. Coming in as an opener in the final he
blitzed the Lankans with a superb 88 in just 86 balls which included 13
boundaries. Uthappa's power hitting helped India beat the Lankans by
eight wickets with over five overs to spare.
He was declared the man of the match for his superlative effort. Tall
and well built, Robin is a stylish right-handed batsman who can bowl a
bit too.
Robin Uthappa made his first class debut in 2002-03 and notched up 445
runs in nine matches. His highest was 162 against Madhya Pradesh in the
Ranji Trophy. An added feather in the cap was the six*** catches
behind the wickets.
His ODI record were brilliant as well with a strike rate of 111 and a
career high of 160. A product of Brijesh Patel Cricket Academy, Uttapha
began his cricketing journey with St. Joseph Boy's High School (Dravid
is an alumni of the same high school).
Uthappa considers Rahul Dravid as his mentor - and he has reasons for
it. Both hail from the same state- Karnataka, although Uthappa is an
attacking batsman. The fact that he can keep wickets and stand up to
any challenge thrown at him makes him similar to Dravid. If Uthappa
comes anywhere close to Dravid's contribution, he would have done
Indian cricket a great service. He surely has it in him; the fact that
he is just 20 makes him an ideal candidate for Team India. *** him
now and reap the riches later.
Robin horned his skills at the Cricket Club of India in Mumbai under
the watchful eyes of former Australian coach Bob Simpson. A strong
player both off the front and the back foot, Utappa is clearly in it
for the long haul. Add to this his gift of stealing singles and Uthappa
can well be counted as one of the show-stoppers of the future. While
fielding he regularly stands at point or gully where can pounce on any
ball coming his way.
In the recent England Under 19 Test series at home in January, Uthappa
made useful scores to make the selectors take notice. In the first Test
at Bangalore he opened the innings scoring a solid 59 in the first
innings in just 54 balls with eleven boundaries. India thrashed England
by a massive 293 runs.
Uthappa can bowl handy medium pacers which can prove to be handy in
situations when our main bowlers tire. He has all the ingredients of a
quality all-rounder which India so desperately lacks down the order. A
good technique and a sound temperament makes Uttapha an ideal
candidate.
Robin Uthappa, the 20-year-old from Karnataka is one of the rising
stars of Indian cricket.
Uthappa shot into fame in the four nation Under-19 Asia Cup held in
Pakistan in November 2003. Coming in as an opener in the final he
blitzed the Lankans with a superb 88 in just 86 balls which included 13
boundaries. Uthappa's power hitting helped India beat the Lankans by
eight wickets with over five overs to spare.
He was declared the man of the match for his superlative effort. Tall
and well built, Robin is a stylish right-handed batsman who can bowl a
bit too.
Robin Uthappa made his first class debut in 2002-03 and notched up 445
runs in nine matches. His highest was 162 against Madhya Pradesh in the
Ranji Trophy. An added feather in the cap was the six*** catches
behind the wickets.
His ODI record were brilliant as well with a strike rate of 111 and a
career high of 160. A product of Brijesh Patel Cricket Academy, Uttapha
began his cricketing journey with St. Joseph Boy's High School (Dravid
is an alumni of the same high school).
Uthappa considers Rahul Dravid as his mentor - and he has reasons for
it. Both hail from the same state- Karnataka, although Uthappa is an
attacking batsman. The fact that he can keep wickets and stand up to
any challenge thrown at him makes him similar to Dravid. If Uthappa
comes anywhere close to Dravid's contribution, he would have done
Indian cricket a great service. He surely has it in him; the fact that
he is just 20 makes him an ideal candidate for Team India. *** him
now and reap the riches later.
Robin horned his skills at the Cricket Club of India in Mumbai under
the watchful eyes of former Australian coach Bob Simpson. A strong
player both off the front and the back foot, Utappa is clearly in it
for the long haul. Add to this his gift of stealing singles and Uthappa
can well be counted as one of the show-stoppers of the future. While
fielding he regularly stands at point or gully where can pounce on any
ball coming his way.
In the recent England Under 19 Test series at home in January, Uthappa
made useful scores to make the selectors take notice. In the first Test
at Bangalore he opened the innings scoring a solid 59 in the first
innings in just 54 balls with eleven boundaries. India thrashed England
by a massive 293 runs.
Uthappa can bowl handy medium pacers which can prove to be handy in
situations when our main bowlers tire. He has all the ingredients of a
quality all-rounder which India so desperately lacks down the order. A
good technique and a sound temperament makes Uttapha an ideal
candidate.
The tall and robust Robin Uthappa has, for a while, been talked of as a
batsman who cannot be kept out of international sport for long.
Although his record in domestic cricket - a first-class average of 32
from 20 matches with just one hundred - is modest his numbers in the
limited-overs version recommend him well. He averages a touch under 40
with a highest of 160 and his runs come at a strike rate of over 93. At
one time a wicketkeeper-batsman, Uthappa has since given up the big
gloves to concentrate on batting, and now occasionally bowls
mediumpace.
As a batsman he has always been attractive to watch, hard-hitting, with
every shot in the book, unafraid to hit the ball in the air. If
anything it is his temperament that has come under question and stopped
him from claiming higher honours thus far. A useful member of the India
under-19 team that won the Asia Cup, Uthappa first caught the eye when
he made a brilliant 66 in a losing cause for India B against India A in
the Challenger Trophy in Mumbai in 2005 against an attack that included
Zaheer Khan, Murali Kartik and RP Singh. But it was in the subsequent
edition of the same tournament, in Mohali in 2006, where he cracked a
matchwinning 93-ball 100 for India B against an India A team.
from different sources.