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Former India player Robin Uthappa revealed that he felt bad when his Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise Royal Challengers Bangalore released him ahead of the IPL season 2011. The India veteran started his IPL journey with five-time champions Mumbai Indians and spent two years, 2009 and 2010 with Royal Challengers Bangalore. The ex-India player, who played a pivotal role in India’s win in the 2007 World Cup, revealed that he was taken aback when his IPL franchise RCB didn’t retain him despite delivering a good performance.
The reliable batter was purchased by Pune Warriors India for a whopping ₹9.66 crore at the auction. Recalling his early IPL years, Uthappa told Sportstar, "I felt bad when I moved from RCB to Pune Warriors India because I would have loved to play for RCB. In fact, I thought I'd get retained because I won the award for hitting the highest number of sixes and won a few matches single-handedly."
Not only this, but the 37-year-old also opened up on his relationship with the then RCB coach Ray Jennings and credited him for his success with the team. Uthappa added, "My first year in RCB was very tragic for me. Although I loved my two years with RCB, they were very forthcoming. Ray Jennings was an incredible coach and literally took care of me as a son there. We shared a very cordial relationship. Even though he was a hard taskmaster, I enjoyed my time with him."
Uthappa ended his IPL career with having represented six IPL franchises. The Bengaluru-born scored 4952 runs from 205 matches at an average of 27.51. In the 2014 season, he became the first-ever Orange Cap winner to win the IPL in the same season.
