Time to raise a toast for Robin Uthappa

Robin Uthappa's intelligent display of batsmanship, mixed with flicks and superbly timed drives on both flanks against the Mumbai Indians, on a typical Cuttack pitch (which is known to be slow and low) has exhibited one vital aspect.

Batsmanship of manners, as Sir Neville Cardus wrote after watching a Lancashire schoolboy RH Spooner score 83 against Middlesex at Lord's in 1899.

"It was a pleasure to bowl to Maister Spooner," said an old player to Sir Neville Cardus, "his batting were as nice as he were himself." Cardus added, it was batsmanship of manners.

Could this expression be borrowed for describing Uthappa's batting in various formats? At the Barabati Stadium on Wednesday, the technicalities of batsmanship were put on show by him without a fuss. Ever since he began to open for KKR, his approach was evident.

But a day before the s match against MI, he hurt his left big toe in the nets after getting struck by a yorker from Pat Cummins. The pain was excruciating. The physio Andrew Leipus was doing his best.

But Uthappa said, "Against MI, I crossed the mental and physical barrier. So big was the injured toe, I couldn't put, on my shoes. My shoe size is s UK 10. I requested Morkel for his shoes which are UK 12 f size. But the shoes were a bit too big to move around in. Then I tried UK 11 of Kallis.

"It was okay. My toe could breathe, but I was very uncomfortable while running. I was worried about Malinga's yorkers. I decided to hang around because for me, the team always comes first. I knew running between the wickets was going to be a big problem, but in the end, I could overcome the problem."

After he went out of the Indian team in 2008, Uthappa seems to have realised that whichever the format one plays, one has to have the basics right.

The boy from Suntikoppa in Coorg, Robin has always been an aggressive batsman from his Under-14 days. To him, defending a ball was a waste of time and energy. His simple philosophy seemed to be `when you have shots, why not play them'.

He is an opener because his mental makeup is ideally suited to that slot. If the national selectors are watching these matches, Uthappa ought to be on the tour to Bangladesh and England.

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