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Cricketfundas.com's
Interviews : Robin Uthappa
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Future Stars : Robin Uthappa
(Indian U19 and Karnataka)
Profile and Interview by
B.V.Swagath
 CRICKETFUNDAS.COM
is proud to bring out the profile of a talented
youngster who is knocking the big doors of
Indian Cricket. We are talking about Robin Uthappa - the man instrumental in winning the
Asia U-19 cup played in Pakistan recently.
Robin Uthappa, the Karnataka batsman is a 19
year old lad, who stole the show with an
86-ball 88 that took India to victory with more
than five overs to spare. Uthappa, the Man of
the Match in the final, has been talked about as
a youngster with great talent in Karnataka.
A
batsman who likes to play his strokes, he has
worked on tightening up his technique in recent
months. He counts his experience at the Cricket
Club of India in Mumbai, where he was coached
for a while by Bob Simpson, as a big factor in
his improvement. Currently Robin is in the
Indian U-19 World Cup Squad and the Karnataka Ranji squad. One look at his game, that I had
when he was batting at the Gymkhana,
Secunderabad in the 2nd Innings of Karnataka,
although he may not have scored many runs, was
that this man has a compact defense that is
required for an opener and the time he has for
playing the pace bowlers both on front-foot and
back-foot. Robin Uthappa is surely a blossoming
flower in Indian Cricket . CricketFundas wishes
Robin all the success in the forthcoming U-19
World Cup .
Interview
with Robin Uthappa
Robin,
first of all congrats on winning the Asia U-19
Cup.
Thank
You very much
What
is the success story behind Robin Uthappa making
it to the India U-19 team and now the Karnataka
Ranji squad?
I
have been working hard, been performing and
definitely a little bit of luck .
So
when did Robin Uthappa actually pick up Cricket?
When
I was about 7 years old, I just started playing
Cricket for passing my time and very soon I
started to like the game, started dreaming about
playing for India. My parents seeing this,
joined me in the Brijesh Patel Cricket Academy .
My school - St. Joseph Boy's High School had
give me plenty of opportunities in the inter
school tournaments, leagues and all.
What
was the first major step for you at the State
level?
Making
it to the Karnataka U-13 team in the second
attempt.
And
the major breakthrough you think that has
brought you in the India U-19?
There
were these selection matches for the Karnataka
U-17and I scored about 800 runs in that series.
One more breakthrough I should say was a match
between the National Cricket Academy Team and
K.S.C.A.XI. I scored 80 and fortunately for me,
Dilip Vengsarkar was watching that match and was
impressed with my game.
If
you can name one individual who had a major
influence in your career?
Ghulam
Samdhani, He has been a major influence in my
life.
Who
has been your role model ?
It
has to be Rahul Dravid .
Robin,
we have heard that you can also keep wickets and
that too keep well enough, so what is it really
that you can do with the ball and keeping?
I
bowl off-break, wicket-keeping came to me in a
state game in which our keeper got injured , and
I volunteered to be the fill-in wicket keeper. I
got as many as 5 victims in about an hour thanks
to our pace bowlers (chuckling..).
What
are your immediate targets, now that you are
into the Karnataka Ranji team?
I
have to cement my place in the Ranji team, the
competition for places is very stiff.
If
you can share with us experiences of playing in
Pakistan and also crossing the Wagah Border on
your way back to India.
It
was a great experience playing in Pakistan.
Initially we were little intimidated on thinking
how the local people would receive us. But they
were really very warm and we could get along
with them very well. I recall one incident,
where we were at the STD/ISD booth calling back
home and the people were feeding us with
sandwiches and cokes.
Crossing
the Wagah Border is something I would cherish
throughout my life. We walked past the Wagah
Border from Pakistan to India amidst soldiers of
the two sides holding their guns and the feeling
of 'Indianism' we felt after putting our foot
again on Indian soil was just amazing .
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