By: BCCI
In an international career spanning little over nine years, Robin Uthappa has ploughed his way through highs and lows as he strives to cement his place in the national side. Dedication, discipline, determination and perseverance are what stand out when one looks at the Karnataka cricketer’s journey. Once again after almost a year, the wicketkeeper-batsman has received an opportunity to don the India blues as the national side gears up to take on Zimbabwe under the captaincy of Ajinkya Rahane.
Making time from his training schedule ahead of the series, Uthappa spoke to bcci.tv about the opportunity that he has been waiting for earnestly. Grateful for the chance that he has earned, the 29-year old talks about his evolution as a cricketer and gearing up for the challenges that lie ahead.
Opportunity to wear the India Blues again; what does this call-up mean to you?
First of all I am very grateful for this opportunity and glad that it has come my way. It is something that I was working for and looking forward to for some time. I intend to make the most of this opportunity; because every time I have got an opportunity before this it has always been one-off games, couple of games in the middle of series or at the end of a series. This is a whole series that I get so I look at this as a good opportunity for myself and would love to make the most of it and hopefully everything will go as planned and I would come out with flying colours.
How has your approach towards batting in ODI evolved, if at all?
I think yes, definitely it has evolved. Opening the batting comes extremely easily to me, because that’s what I do in domestic cricket. I am not really sure what position I will be batting in this series. If it is up the order it would just be about going out there and playing my natural game. If it is down the order then obviously I have to approach it slightly differently and in a way that’s useful for the team. Depending on what my role is going to be, I will prepare accordingly and make meaningful contributions towards the team’s cause and hopefully win games for my country.
Opening or middle-order the challenges change according to positions – how would you approach either slot?
From a mental perspective opening the batting is basically about going out there and setting a foundation for your side. It is something I have been doing successfully in domestic cricket and something that comes naturally to me. It is like second nature to me and I have a very solid plan which I have been executing with more than a fair degree of success in the last two to three years.
Batting in the middle-order is something that I have not done very often in the last few years. So, for batting in the middle order I would have to work out what approach serves the best at this point of time. I have played in the middle-order earlier but I used to play my game very differently back then. It is going to be a new challenge but I believe that I am up to the challenge. Definitely, mentally I feel I am a little more prepared, a little more open minded about learning and trying to grow, improve and make sure that the contribution towards the team is extremely meaningful and beneficial towards the team’s success.
I don’t think much changes on the technical front. You probably worry less about technique when you bat in the middle-order whereas when you are batting at the top of the order you have to make sure that you play through the new ball and set up a solid foundation. For that you need to be little more technically sound. That is something I worked on and I have lot of confidence as far as technique is concerned.
But again, batting in the middle-order and batting at the top of the order in one-day cricket is very different to four-day cricket. When you are batting in the middle-order in multi-day cricket you tend to get the second new ball and there in the technique comes into play and becomes useful and something that I have been doing in the past year. I am pretty confident of my ability and like I said I am looking forward to this opportunity and challenges that this opportunity brings to me.
What do you expect from the conditions and how should the Indian batsmen negotiate it?
I am not really certain how the conditions are or how the weather is going to be like. So I can’t really say for sure. It might be a little cold so I am expecting the ball to move around a little bit so I think it will be a lot of fun for me in the middle-order. At the same time behind the wickets will also be a lot of fun with our fast bowling attack.
With the new rules and the batting powerplay being done away with, what impact do you see on batsmen? What kind of adjustments would the batsman have to make?
I think we just go back to how one-day cricket used to be played. I think the only difference is that any no ball is a free hit today. So, as far as I am concerned we just go back to playing one-day cricket how it used to be played and the bowlers still have a little bit of an advantage. A little bit of a cushion where the fifth bowler or the sixth bowler can be a part-time bowler and we can still restrict a team inside a total of 300 runs. I think that’s where we come back. With the restrictions now off, fielders will be outside so we won’t have tall scores such as totals in excess of 350 on a regular basis
I don’t think it would make much of a difference to the batsman. One would usually have to drop a gear down I think and can’t really take too much of a risk with an extra fielder outside (the circle). Basically the batsmen would have to simplify their own game in that sense. For me, I don’t see much of a change. I think the batsmen might be a little less aggressive right now.
India had registered their first ever 5-0 series win in Zimbabwe and although a different team that lost to Bangladesh, India will look to set the record straight. What would be the pressure and challenges on that end?
Everyone is looking forward to an opportunity to represent the country and bring laurels to the country. So I think everyone will be extremely keen to perform well and do well for themselves and also do well for the country. So I think by doing that itself we would be setting the record straight and make the wrongs right in that sense. But I think, to look ahead is the way to go and I think with this young side I am pretty certain that we will do well there.
As one of the more experienced members in the squad, how do you see your role and responsibilities?
Depending on where I will be batting in the line-up my role is going to change; but behind the wickets definitely it would be to support and make sure that I keep everyone on their toes and up and about.
Most of us have played domestic cricket together and played for India A together. I think on most levels we are pretty much on par. I think we will get on really well as a side which is very important as well. At the same time everyone is more or less the same age and we will definitely be looking to help each other out with our own experiences.
What goals do you set yourself while embarking on the tour?
Well, for me this definitely is an opportunity to consolidate my place in the side and I am grateful for it. I believe I bring in lot of options to the team since I can keep wickets and bat in the middle or top of the order. I would like to add that for me that the biggest dream has been to win matches for India and I have done that a few times and I am hoping that I can consolidate my place in the side and continue to win matches for our country.
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