‘The Walking Assassin’ of Indian cricket Robin Venu Uthappa announced his retirement from all formats of cricket, including IPL, on 14th September 2022. The hard-hitting batter Uthappa decided to bring down the curtains of a 20-year-old amazing cricket career. The 36-year-old cricketer has revealed his decision on Twitter as he is going to ‘chart a new phase in his life’, spending time with his family.
Uthappa has started his cricket career 20 years ago, and he considers it a great honour to represent the country for a long period of time.
“It’s been 20 years since I started playing professional cricket, and it has been the greatest honour to represent my country and state, Karnataka- wonderful journey of ups and downs; one that has been fulfilling, rewarding, enjoyable and has allowed me to grow as a human being. However, all good things must come to an end and with a grateful heart, I have decided to retire from all forms of Indian cricket. While I will spend a significant time with my young family, I look forward to charting a new phase in life,” he wrote in his farewell note on Twitter.
Uthappa made his One Day International debut in the 7th and final match of the English tour of India in April 2006. As an opening batsman, it was a successful debut scoring 86 runs against James Anderson, Liam Plunkett, and Sajid Mahmood. It was the highest score for an Indian debutant in a limited-over match. Also, he played an important role in India’s win at the 2007 ICC T20 World Cup.
He had finished the 2014-15 Ranji Trophy as the highest run-scorer. Also, he was the highest run-scorer that year in the IPL. Uthappa also scored a crucial 50 against Pakistan in the T20 World Cup in South Africa in the year 2007 and it was a famous ‘Bowl Out’ victory over Pakistan.
After his impressive performance in the Season 7 IPL, Uthappa became the captain of the India A team for its tour of Australia in July 2013.
Uthappa represented India in 46 ODIs and 13 T20Is, scoring a total of 1183 international runs. He has made his mark in the cricket world with a century at Mohali in the 2006 Challenger Trophy.
Uthappa lost his spot for a period of time but came back in 2014 and 2015. He was, however, a central figure in different IPL teams during his run in the T20 competition. He has played for Mumbai Indians (2008), Royal Challengers Banglaore (2009), and Pune Warriors (2011) in the early seasons. He was the 2nd most expensive player in the 2011 IPL behind Gautham Gambhir.
Uthappa was then drafted in by Kolkata Knight Riders in the seventh season of IPL, winning the Orange Cap in the title-winning season for the team. He has scored 660 runs in the season, and in the process created a T20 record for having scored 40+ scores in the season, and in 8 consecutive games. He then played for Rajasthan Royals and Chennai Super Kings. In all, he compiled 4952 runs from 205 IPL games at a strike rate of 130.35 including 27 half centuries.
Uthappa was really an IPL legend who has won 2 IPL titles, one with KKR (2014) and one with CSK (2021). Also, he has won 2 back-to-back Ranji Trophies in seasons 2013-14 and 2014-15. After announcing his retirement, he thanked all the IPL teams he has played so far. He will no longer take part in the tournament. Although he has opened the doors for himself to play in leagues abroad. He has obtained a non-objection certificate from Kerala, the last state he has played for in domestic cricket. Uthappa will always be remembered by cricket fans for his aggressive batting.
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