BENGALURU: Robin Uthappa took an important decision before last season started, deciding to play for Saurashtra after having served Karnataka for 15 years. But with the player set to represent Bengaluru Blasters in the upcoming Karnataka Premier League (KPL), his chances of representing Karnataka again looks increasingly likely.
Uthappa himself approached the Karnataka State Cricket Association and showed interest in featuring in KPL and KSCA was happy to have him on board, which could be the opening stroke for his second innings. “I spoke to the KSCA and expressed my interest to come back and play the KPL. They were very happy about it. It is an opportunity to play in front of them (local fans) and receive their love. I want to make the most of that,” Uthappa said.
KSCA, granting him permission to play in KPL shows that the two are in good terms after their fallout. It happened when Uthappa was dropped from the state squad for Ranji Trophy quarterfinal due to disciplinary reasons in the 2016-17 season. Uthappa was not happy and their relationship went sour. Uthappa, however, spoke about how it was important to repair the relationship. “In hindsight, it was a challenging shift to make. It has helped me in a lot of ways, understand a lot of things, and also helped mend fences with KSCA. There were a few things that I needed to fix and I was able to do that. I am glad about it,” said Uthappa.
“Basically, it (mending fences) was with the administrators. There were certain areas where I kind of overstepped and I had to man up and apologise, take responsibility. I did that. It was just about the administrators (in KSCA), as I have always gotten along strongly with the Karnataka players.”