"I was not getting selected for cricket in Karnataka" - Robin Uthappa on pursuing hockey as a kid
Robin Uthappa, part of India's World T20-winning squad in 2007, initially struggled to break into the Karnataka state team, after which he had to resort to hockey before making a comeback to cricket.
Coming from a hockey-playing family, many tipped the young Robin Uthappa to take up the family sport. However, an early memory of playing cricket with his mother propelled Uthappa to pursue the sport.
Despite being immensely talented, the out-of-bound Indian cricketer struggled to break into the state side, which forced him to try his hand at hockey.
Throwing light on the journey from cricket to hockey during Sharechat's online show 'CricChat powered by Parimatch', he said:
"There are quite a few reasons for the choice made. One of them was when I was two or three years old and I was playing cricket with my mom, she was throwing the ball and I was hitting it with a broken plastic bat. That was my first consciousness of the game that brought me alive as a person."
Robin Uthappa added:
"My father was an internationally renowned hockey umpire who also represented Karnataka. Once, when I went for the U16 sub-junior selection, I realized the path is going to be very smooth because everyone loved my father. In fact, during the selection day, there were very talented people who had come there, however they did not get selected.
"I felt really bad that day that these players were not selected even though they were better than me. I used to play as a full-back and I was selected as a stand-by, but I felt that these players were so talented, however, they did not get selected. That's when I realised my journey will be easy."
Sensing an easy route due to his father's reputation, Robin Uthappa changed his mind again to work the hard yard and make a living out of cricket. He continued:
"I wanted to do something on my own. I loved and enjoyed hockey as it was a game of courage and perseverance but I thought the route would be an easy one and even if I succeed people would believe that has happened because of my father.
"So I went back to cricket, expecting to become successful through my hard work since my father had no connection with cricket."
"Mom asked me to go and click a photo with him" - Robin Uthappa shares a hilarious story
Robin Uthappa met Rahul Dravid at a very early age, with both of them hailing from the same school. The right-handed batter, who has represented India in 46 ODIs and 13 T20Is, shared a funny incident when the former India captain visited the school for an award function.
Asked about the story of Uthappa's reply when his mother asked him to click a picture with Dravid, the Karnataka cricketer shared the incident and said:
"This story is actually true. Rahul Dravid was a passout of our school and he was a super senior to us. When he completed his schooling, I was admitted to class four.
"He used to visit our school for prize distribution and other ceremonies. It was one such ceremony during a time when both our U14 and U16 cricket teams won all the tournaments and Rahul Dravid was called to felicitate the team.
"Before the tournament, Rahul bhai had sent five six bats for the team, so our coach used to give those bats to us, I remember having a very good season with one of those bats."
He concluded:
"He came to our school where he was felicitated and he distributed prizes to all the kids. When he was about to leave, my mom asked me to go click a photo with him, by that time he was already surrounded by a huge crowd, so I said that I will not click a photo, people will come and click photos with me one day, and my mom was really taken aback by that statement."
Uthappa was last seen in action during IPL 2022, plying his trade for the Chennai Super Kings (CSK). He had a moderate campaign, scoring 230 runs in 12 matches at a paltry average of 20.91.