The story of Robin and the batsman in him

By Nishad Pai Vaidya

 

On September 5, 2007, England and India were engaged in a riveting contest at The Oval which was going down to the wire. The top order comprising Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly and Gautam Gambhir laid a solid foundation for a 317 run-chase. Suddenly, India lost wickets in a heap and were in a muddle in the face of soaring asking rate.

 

In walked 21-year old Robin Uthappa at No 7 and played as if there wasn’t any pressure. He fearlessly walked down the pitch to the fast bowlers and made them bowl the length he desired. With eight needed off four deliveries, he walked down the wicket to Stuart Broad and played a scoop over short fine-leg’s head for four. The next ball he charged again and sent the ball to the long-off boundary. India won a thrilling match that kept them alive in the series and it seemed in Uthappa the country had discovered a genuine young talent with copious potential.

 

Four years since that fateful day in London, Uthappa is still the promising player yet to live up to his true potential. He played his last ODI for India in July 2008 and hasn’t been able to make a comeback since. Prior to The Oval ODI, Uthappa was in the Indian set-up for quite some time having scored an 86 on debut in 2006. He was even a part of the Indian squad for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2007. But his performance at The Oval was a glimpse of what he was capable of. He followed that up with a good ICC World T20 2007 and quite a few decent knocks against the touring Australians later that year. It looked like his career would take off from that point but little did anyone know that he would be dropped in less than a year’s time and would struggle to get back in the scheme of things for over three years.

 

In 2011, one can just look back and lament at the lost possibilities. A player of his potential should have established himself in the Indian ranks and made himself indispensable to the team. However, one mustn’t ignore the fact that he has continued to do decently well in the domestic One- Day games. The question that arises: Is Uthappa being left out due to his erratic showings in the T20 format?

 

The answer to the question is yes and no. Uthappa has played a few good knocks in the IPL but they have been few and far in between. Consistency hasn’t been his biggest asset in the T20 league and that may have gone against his selection into the Indian team. Sadly, what the IPL does is that it eclipses some of the domestic one-day tournaments that continue during the season.

 

Let us have a look at Uthappa’s stats in each season since his last ODI:

Season	M	Runs	Avge	100s	50s	Strike Rate
2008-09	15	450	30.00	0	4	97.61
2009-10	7	262	37.42	1	2	115.92
2010-11	9	291	36.37	1	1	120.24

(List A games)

 

The stats suggests that he has done decently well since his axing. In fact in the Challenger Trophy 2008-09, he was the highest run-getter, but that didn’t get him a recall to the national team. However, the above stats indicate that he gets the odd big score but isn’t consistent enough. An average hovering in the 30s indicates that he gets most of his runs of the season in one or two big knocks. There is a difference in being fairly consistent and being outstanding. Uthappa needs to cross that barrier and start joining the stand-out performers in domestic cricket.

 

What is impressive though is his strike rate. A naturally aggressive player, he doesn’t hold back when there is an opportunity to play the big shot. This instinct is his biggest strength but is also his biggest weakness. There have been many occasions when he has thrown away good starts by trying something extraordinary. It is due to this habit that he finds his average hovering in the 30s.

 

Uthappa has performed in the recently-concluded Challenger Trophy and that caps a good start of the season for him. His focus should be to maintain consistency and knock on the doors of the national selectors. In a recent interview he has said that he wishes to continue playing aggressively and spend more time in the middle. That should be his first aim because the more he spends time in the middle, the more damage he can do to the opposition bowling. He should be on guard against those moments of indiscretion which spoil all the good work.

 

His job may not be done by scoring runs in domestic cricket. With the Indian selectors using the IPL as their talent scouting base, Uthappa may have to live up to his price tag for the Pune Warriors and deliver those hard-hitting knocks more consistently. Knowing the trend in Indian selection in recent years, a good IPL may get him back in the national setup rather than a successful domestic season.

 

Since 2008, the closest Uthappa came to the Indian colors was when he was named in the probables for the ICC World T20 2009. He wasn’t even considered for the probables of the 2010 edition of the same tournament and also missed out on the ICC World Cup 2011 preliminary squad. It is very sad to see a precocious talent lose his way. Let us hope that Uthappa’s best is yet to be scripted.

 

(Nishad Pai Vaidya, a 21-year-old law student, is a club and college-level cricketer. His teachers always complain, “He knows the stats and facts of cricket more than the subjects we teach him.")