Robin Uthappa, who has played every season of the lucrative league, has been traded to the Chennai Super Kings ahead of IPL 2021 by Rajasthan Royals
Robin Uthappa has been an interesting case in Indian cricket. The Karnataka-born batsman who has played for India in the limited overs has had a stop start career. He has featured in the 2008 CB series in Australia, 2007 T20 World Cup, ICC World Cup, however, since then, he didn't really feature in the Indian side for a consistent stretch of games.
He used to perform in IPL, get picked, make a comeback, but fade away soon after. Irrespective of how his 59-match international career has panned out, Uthappa has been a conistent performer in the IPL. A veteran of sorts, Uthappa belongs to the elite list of players, who have featured in every season of the league.
Uthappa, in his 13-year career of IPL has played for five different franchises, while his best years were in purple and gold of Kolkata Knight Riders where he played a massive role in their title winning year in 2014, ending the season as the highest scorer. Now, the 35-year old will begin his new journey with the three-time champions Chennai Super Kings after being traded by the Rajasthan Royals.
Robin is our newest Bat-Man! Welcoming you with #Yellove Vanakkam @robbieuthappa! #WhistlePodu pic.twitter.com/MYVpwvV2ZG
— Chennai Super Kings (@ChennaiIPL) January 21, 2021
1. The beginning
)
Uthappa started his IPL journey with the current five-time champions Mumbai Indians under Sachin Tendulkar. He scored 320 runs in the 14 games and averaged 35 as he was a regular feature in a star studded side. (Image: BCCI)
2. The trade
)
Uthappa after the first season was traded to the Royal Challengers Bangalore in swap with Zaheer Khan. Uthappa played for two seasons with the RCB side in 2009 and 2010. Although, he had a below par season in the first year in red and gold scoring just 175 runs, he came back strongly in the next year as he smascked 374 runs in 16 games at a strike rate of 171. (Image: BCCI)
3. The new team
)
Uthappa was let go off by the RCB before the mega auction ahead of the 2011 season. In that year, two new teams Pune Warriors and Kochi Tuskers Kerala too made their entry into the league and Pune bought Uthappa for next three years of the league. (Image: BCCI)
4. The consistency
)
Robin Uthappa found his feet in a team, which was not able to stand on its own. While Pune team didn't have three great years as far as their performance and their positions in the points table were concerned, Uthappa really came into his own in those three years with the men in black and then blue. In those three years, Uthappa raked up 264, 405 and 434 aggregate runs in three seasons with four fifties in total. (Image: BCCI)
5. The new journey
)
Uthappa found a new home in Kolkata Knight Riders, after finding himself in auction pool again. The right-hander had a scratchy start to his KKR journey as he failed to perform in the UAE leg of the 2014 edition. (Image: BCCI)
6. The change and the magic
)
After which, he was promoted to the top order alongside skipper Gautam Gambhir and it worked like a magic for both Uthappa and KKR. Uthappa ended up winning the Orange Cap, scoring 660 runs in 16 games, playing an important role in KKR winning the title in 2014. Uthappa, later played for five more years for the franchise and in every subsequent year, his aggregate of a season remained 300-plus before 2019, in which his strike rate and performance both went down. (Image: BCCI)
7. A new franchise, fifth to be exact
)
After spending six years and giving some extraordinary performances for the franchise, Uthappa was let go off by KKR before 2020 season. He was picked up by the Rajasthan Royals for INR 3 crores. (Image: BCCI)
8. The inconsistency
)
Like in 2014 for KKR, Uthappa started the season in the middle-order for the Royals. However, his lackluster performances meant the management decided to send him up top and the difference showed in the first innings. He played a quickfire 47 against RCB as he was back in run-scoring form. But, after that too he blwe hot and cold after which he was traded by the RR to CSKahead of IPL 2021.
With 4607 runs in 189 matches, Uthappa has been one of the IPL veterans and he has been in decent touch in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy as he amassed 161 runs in five matches, striking at 141, with highest score of 91, for Kerala. As, he joins the MS Dhoni's men, one would hope, he has a great season for the men in yellow.
