Doesn’t speak much but communicates enough: Robin Uthappa picks best captain he has played under

Robin Uthappa named the best captain he has played under and said he didn’t used to speak much but communicated just enough.

India batsman Robin Uthappa picked the best captain he has played under and surprisingly it was neither Rahul Dravid nor MS Dhoni - the captains under whom he has played majority of his international cricket. Uthappa picked Gautam Gambhir, his skipper at IPL franchise Kolkata Knight Riders as the best leader he has played under.

Robin Uthappa of the Kolkata Knight Riders plays a shot during an IPL match (BCCI)

“Gauti, for me, stood out. Even though he doesn’t speak much, he communicates just what is enough, and you know that you’re in a good place. Good leaders make you feel secure, then they let you be, and you see that in their results as a captain,” Uthappa told ESPNCricinfo.

Uthappa had played six seasons under Gautam Gambhir’s captaincy in Kolkata Knight Riders. He was first bought by KKR in 2012 and he played a major role in KKR lifting the trophy for the first time that year. Uthappa won another IPL for KKR in 2014. The wicket-keeper batsman, who also played one season under Dinesh Karthik’s captaincy in KKR, was released by the franchise ahead of this season’s auction.

He was picked up Rajasthan Royals and is supposed to represented the franchise in IPL 2020, whenever or if at all that takes place. On being a part of Rajasthan Royals this season, he says, “I am genuinely looking forward to meeting and spending time with Steve Smith, Jos Buttler, Ben Stokes, Oshane Thomas, Tom Curran and others because its only when guys come together, and set the common goal of wanting to win, and that desire is vehemently expressed, you know that it is going to come through.”

“What we need today is a good finisher. I have been practicing a lot because these things are like a process; they don’t just happen overnight. You need to work on it every day. And God willing, it will happen at some point,” he said.

The show also introduced viewers to Robin’s personal life. Robin has been making the best of the lockdown by spending quality time with his wife and son, Neale Nolan Uthappa, in Bangalore. He introduces Neale and narrates an interesting story behind the name ‘Neale Nolan.’

“Our entire family is a huge Christopher Nolan fan, so, we had decided to name our son ‘Nolan Robin Uthappa.’ But then we (my wife and I) came across the author “Neale Donald Walsch” of ‘Conversation with God’s’ fame. He had a significant impact over us. So we decided to drop ‘Robin’ and call him ‘Neale Nolan Uthappa’ instead,” he said.

Robin is an avid reader, and also loves to bake and cook in his free time, which he has been doing a lot nowadays. He used to read autobiographies of cricketers all the time, but it changed after an incident.

“My biggest learning came after I read Steve Waugh’s autobiography, where he spoke about how he was a grafter, his grit, determination, and how he enjoyed the struggle as it brought out the best in him. I got so influenced that suddenly I found myself batting and trying to struggle, even if I wasn’t. So that’s when I thought, I should stop reading these books while I am playing,” he said.

(With agency inputs)