Robin Uthappa: “I’ll be honored if the opportunity came along”

Image courtesy of: ESPNcricinfo

Robin Uthappa has expressed his desire to captain the Kolkata Knight Riders in this year’s Indian Premier League (IPL).

Uthappa’s hopes to captain the franchise come after regular skipper Gautam Gambhir was bought by the Delhi Daredevils for INR 2.8 crores during the IPL auction.

With Gambhir gone, the captaincy spot is now open, and Uthappa is determined to fill the position.

“Of course, I am. I’ll be honored if the opportunity came along but it’s for the think-tank to decide – whatever role they want me to take, I’ll give my 110 percent. Adding value to my team as a cricketer is crucial to my game,” Uthappa told Sportstar.

Prior to joining the Knight Riders in 2014, Uthappa bounced around a number of teams as he represented the Mumbai Indians, Royal Challengers Bangalore and the now-defunct Pune Warriors India.

But, after coming to the Knight Riders, he has established himself as one of the key players, so much so that they retained his services for INR 6.4 crores with a Right to Match (RTM) card during the auction.

Speaking about what it means to finally have a franchise to call home, the 32-year-old said: “The initial five or six years of the IPL, I moved around a lot, so for me to find one place I could call home was important.

“The people back in Kolkata are absolutely fantastic, they’ve treated me with so much love and care. Even the team management has stood by me right from the time I joined them.”