Robin Uthappa, who received his opportunities for Chennai Super Kings in the later stages of the previous Indian Premier League season, opened up on his first interaction with modern-day great MS Dhoni went in the franchise.
The 36-year-old joined CSK from Rajasthan Royals ahead of the 2021 edition of the tournament and was benched for the majority of the season but made the most of his opportunities at the back end of the campaign, scoring 115 in four games, including a 43-ball 64 in the Qualifier 1 against Delhi Capitals.
In a conversation on Ravichandran Ashwin’s YouTube channel, Uthappa revealed that Dhoni had told him he won’t make it into the playing XI straightaway. He said he liked the honesty Dhoni showed and how the support staff handled the situation.
“One thing I liked in that conversation with MS Dhoni was that on the same day he told me that as of now, I don’t directly walk into his playing XI. We will see where it goes in a couple of months but I am not thinking about it at this point in time,”
“When I came, they told me that I might have to wait for my turn. What was really nice was that after that once every 4-5 days, one coach or the other would come and speak to me.”
the player revealed.
Uthappa was bought back by CSK in the 2022 mega auction for his base price of INR 2 Crore. Things were different for him this time around as he started in the season opener against Kolkata Knight Riders and scored a handy 21-ball 28 at number three.
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In the second match, CSK dropped Devon Conway, and Uthappa moved to the top of the order, where he scored 50 off just 27 balls versus Lucknow Super Giants.
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He scored only 13 runs in the third match but will be determined to make the most of his chances this season. Uthappa has been one of the few positives for CSK, who have lost three out of three games so far.
