Uthappa pleasantly surprised with staggering IPL price

NEW DELHI - Robin Uthappa has been out of reckoning for the Indian cricket squad since 2008, so when the Indian Premier League (IPL) teams jostled and freely loosened their purse strings for him in the auction, it pleasantly surprised the Karnataka batsman.

Uthappa ended up fetching a whopping $2.1 million from Pune Warriors, commanding the highest paycheque after top-grosser Gautam Gambhir and same as Yusuf Pathan, the two regulars in the Indian squad.

The dashing batsman Saturday expressed satisfaction at still being in demand.

“It feels pretty satisfying that I am still worth that much.”

“I was not expecting that amount but yes somewhere close to it. I look forward to playing with a new team,” said Uthappa on the sidelines of a World Cup promotional event of Pepsi.

Uthappa played for Mumbai Indians (MI) and Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in the previous editions. The Bangalore-based cricketer said that he will miss playing for his home team.

“I will certainly miss playing for RCB but playing for a new team should not be a problem. The fact that I will be playing for them since the first season, adjustment will not be an issue.”

Asked about the importance of the India cap for drawing the attention of IPL franchises, Uthappa said it makes a lot of difference.

Uthappa, while responding to a question as to how promising youngster Manish Tiwari is being pegged at a far lower bracket than his contemporary Saurabh Tiwary, who played in only three ODIs and was snapped up at a handsome $1.6 million by RCB.

“Three India caps are a lot dearer than three IPL caps. Every cricketer wants to play for the country. The passion is much more in playing for India.”

Uthappa, who has represented India in 38 ODIs, did not feature in the 30 probables for the forthcoming World Cup. But the batsman is confident of getting the selectors’ attention in the future.

“I have done well in whatever opportunities I have got. On a few occasions, I did not perform well. I do not know what more I need to do to get into the team. Hopefully, the selectors will consider me sometime.”

Uthappa is banking on the current side to win the World Cup starting Feb 19 in India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.

“India are well prepared for the event. We have always done well at home. If I have to choose any other team, I would go for England the way they are playing at the moment.”