“After Gauti was let go, I felt alienated,” Robin Uthappa opens up on his experience at KKR

Uthappa played for the Kolkata-based franchise from 2014 to 2019.

Robin Uthappa and Gautam Gambhir | BCCI-IPLRobin Uthappa is quite a well-known name in Indian cricket, having represented the country in 46 ODIs and 13 T20Is. He was also part of the India team that won the inaugural T20 World Cup in 2007.

In the Indian Premier League, Uthappa turned up for various franchises, including Chennai Super Kings, Rajasthan Royals, Mumbai Indians, Kolkata Knight Riders and Royal Challengers Bangalore.

However, the team where he spent a significant time was KKR. He played for the Kolkata-based franchise from 2014 to 2019.

Uthappa was an integral part of the KKR side that lifted the IPL trophy in 2014, when Gautam Gambhir was the captain.

Almost five years after leaving the KKR set-up, Robin Uthappa has now said that he felt 'alienated' at in the team after Gambhir left in 2018.

Taking to Twitter, Uthappa wrote: "So much has been said since last night & I thank you for sharing. However I have always maintained that my 1st 4 yrs in KKR wen gauti led was completely diff from my last 2 years and that had a huge impact on my performances. I can assure you it had nothing to do with Captaincy!"

"After Gauti was let go, everything changed and I felt alienated. However my love for the fans of KKR was the same and will remain the same forever. I'm forever grateful for their support and I wanna clarify that!! This isn't about the fans of KKR. I'll forever love and respect em," he further stated.

Uthappa’s post came after he shared a cryptic tweet on Tuesday (May 23) that went viral. "I'm not surprised by the hate I'm receiving here for what has been MY experience. Peace and love to you all!!"

While he didn’t clarify his tweet, several netizens claimed that it was in response to the trolling that Uthappa had to face after he said that CSK would be the IPL franchise he would want to play for if given an opportunity again.

"I will not be playing in the IPL because I have already retired from Indian cricket. If I could play again, CSK man, hands down!" he said on JioCinema.

Apparently, Uthappa’s remarks didn’t go down well with the supporters of other teams for which he played.

When a fan commented, “Bro played one-two seasons with Chennai and sold his soul I have never seen him supporting Kkr like this", Uthappa replied: "Loyalty and respect is a give and take my friend!!"

 

 
 

By Salman Anjum - 24 May, 2023

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