Chennai Super Kings batter Robin Uthappa opined that doubts creep in when he wasn’t getting to play but he tried to remain positive and kept himself in the right frame of mind.
Uthappa scored a fine knock of 63 runs off just 44 balls against Delhi Capitals at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium on Sunday and helped his team in chasing down the target of 173 runs as CSK won by four wickets.
Uthappa played only two matches before the Qualifier and could only score 21 runs. The veteran batter was kept out of the playing XI as the team was backing experienced batter, Suresh Raina. However, Raina suffered a knee-niggle and he was ruled out, which gave an opportunity to the Karnataka batter.
Uthappa, who has all the experience under his bag, was able to grab his opportunity and stepped up for the franchise when it mattered the most in a big match. The flamboyant batter scored a boundary on the first ball he faced from Anrich Nortje and didn’t look back after that as he took the role of the aggressor.
Uthappa dedicated the knock to his son, who was celebrating his fourth birthday on Sunday, and also added that he feels secure in the CSK camp.
Robin Uthappa said after the game, “Happy that I was able to contribute. Today is my son’s birthday and this one’s for him. When I went out to bat we knew we needed a good start, so I just tried to react to the ball and play according to the merit. Hopefully, it’s nothing serious (about his injury), seems like it’s a little bit of a niggle and we have got 4 days to go so I should be good”.
“There were days when there were doubts, to be honest, when you don’t get to play these doubts tend to creep in and I try to make sure that I shut myself from the outside world, I just stuck to that and I just felt that at some point I will be able to contribute to the team in a way that’s really meaningful and I’m really grateful for God that I have been able to do that today.
I always maintain that this has been one of the most secure franchises going around and everyone feels secure within the group and I think that only makes a player only give that much more to the franchise. After KKR, when Gauti was the captain I really enjoyed myself there and felt really secure in that group but after that, this is the most secure I’ve felt while playing cricket in a while.”
Uthappa was delighted after he made a winning contribution to the team and made great use of his experience. The right-hander added 110 runs for the second wicket with Ruturaj Gaikwad and it led the foundation of the run-chase for CSK.
Uthappa will aim to continue his good form in the IPL final and deliver the goods for the team.
