When the Indian team was announced for the remaining 2 ODIs and the T20, the selectors picked on the likes of Akshar Patel, Manish Pandey and Sanju Samson.
When the Indian team was announced for the remaining 2 ODIs and the T20, the selectors picked on the likes of Akshar Patel, Manish Pandey and Sanju Samson.
These are the names that stood out during the Indian Premier League this year as well as the CLT20.
But of all the names given out, the most prominent one that went missing was Karnataka’s favourite, Robin Uthappa.
The wicket-keeper batsman had a brilliant IPL 2014 and was also part of the Kolkata Knight Riders’ CLT20 team.
Uthappa has been in and out of the Indian team and last donned the coloured kits in June 2014 against Bangladesh. But even with an impressive performance in the IPL and Ranji Trophy, Uthappa remains on the sidelines as far as the selection is concerned. During the 3-match series against Bangladesh, Uthappa took the field for Team India after a gap of six years and was far from impressive. The Karnataka batsman slammed a half-century in the first ODI against Bangladesh and scored 14, 5 in the remaining two games.
Uthappa was KKR’s third highest run-getter (210 runs in five matches) for Champions League runners-up as well as the KKR opener topped the batting charts amassing 660 runs (including five half-centuries) in 16 matches this year. Moreover, Robin, who missed most part of the last Ranji Trophy season due to injury, played a key role in state’s title winning season by scoring 374 runs in five matches for Karnataka who won their seventh title.
But why have the selectors refrained from picking Robin Uthappa? Soon to turn 29, this talented batsman has played in 41 ODIs so far and 11 T20 internationals. He was part of the inaugural T20 World Cup winning team way back in 2007 but since then, has not seen the light of the day yet. The mystery of retaining an ‘out-of-form’ Shikhar Dhawan and ignoring a run-machine like Uthappa; remains a point of debate.
“This is really surprising. Robin is in form and winning matches. He would have been a good candidate to look at considering the upcoming Australia tour. He is a good player on hard wickets and tackles short balls well. His wicketkeeping is an additional bonus,” said former chairman of selectors Dilip Vengsarkar who was quoted in a established tabloid.
Team India has no quality back-up wicketkeeper whereas Wriddhiman Saha is yet to prove on international stage. Robin Uthappa proved quite handy on the Australian pitches during India’s ODI series triumph way back in 2008 and could have been a vital cog in India’s testing time Down Under.
