Kolkata Knight Riders are playing against Rajasthan Royals in Dubai in match 12 of the Indian Premier League. Steve Smith won the toss and asked KKR to bat first. Meanwhile, veteran cricketer Robin Uthappa was seen applying saliva to the ball despite the strict guidelines of the ICC.
Incidentally, International Cricket Council had put a temporary ban on using saliva in the cricket ball in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, they can use sweat to shine the ball. But it seemed like Robin Uthappa completely forgot the rule during Rajasthan Royals game against Kolkata.
The incident happened in the third over of the KKR innings when Robin Uthappa dropped a sitter to give Sunil Narine a life early on in his innings. However, the all-rounder couldn’t make full use of the opportunity and went back scoring only 15 runs.
While giving the ball away, Uthappa accidentally used his saliva to shine the ball, which is against the rules of the game due to the novel coronavirus.
Watch the video below:
https://twitter.com/ItsRaviMaurya/status/1311308712670195713?s=20
Robin Uthappa – A Knight Till 2019
Robin Uthappa played for the Kolkata Knight Riders from 2014 to 2019. He won the Orange cap in 2014, scoring 640 runs in a title-winning season for Kolkata Knight Riders. However, in the last couple of years, he had diminishing returns for the side.
He scored 280 runs in his last 12 innings for KKR before being released from the side. He ended with 2439 runs for KKR from 86 matches for the side with 16 fifties to his name.
Uthappa’s inclusion to the Rajasthan Royals’ squad for IPL 2020 was more tactical. The side which heavily dependent on its overseas superstars lacked a quality Indian batsman before Uthappa’s addition. However, he ie yet to fire for his side in this year’s IPL. He scored nine runs from two games prior to this match.
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Robin Uthappa is among the six Indian batsmen with over 4000 runs in the IPL. he currently sits at 4425 runs from 179 games with 24 fifties to his name.
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Uthappa said at the start of the season, that he wants to use this season to make a comeback into the Indian squad for one last leap.
“I certainly believe that if we have a great season in the IPL, wonderful things could happen to me and even bring me back into the reckoning for the Indian team” said Uthappa.
“I am someone who is always positive as a human being and I look for silver linings even in negative situations. So my conviction is really strong that god willing, that I will be able to represent my country again and bring laurels to it. I hope that happens,” he further added.