IPL veteran and 2007 World T20 winner in conversation with Gulf News.
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#IPL #IPL2020 #cricket
Read the full story: https://bit.ly/34fV2Gr
See more videos at https://gulfnews.com/videos
Read more Gulf News stories here: https://bit.ly/2HLJ2km
#IPL #IPL2020 #cricket
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NewsTranscript
00:00I actually truly believe. There's something inside me that believes that I have a World Cup left in me.
00:09Hello. A very warm welcome to all of you. Here we are welcoming our guest editor, Robin Udhapa of Rajasthan Royals.
00:18A person who has been there, done that in Indian cricket. Robin and his team-mates, they are still recovering from the Tevatiya heroics in Sharjah.
00:27Yeah. That's the way this IPL has been going. If it had been the Tevatiya on Monday, it was Ishan Keshan and the rest yesterday.
00:39Now I'll introduce you to my colleague, Shyam Krishna, who incidentally is from Bangalore.
00:43So Shyam is going to pick your brains with a lot of Bangalore-related questions in our guest edition.
00:49That's wonderful. Hello, Mr. Shyam.
00:52Hi. Hi, Robin.
00:54I will let the floor to Shyam first. Shyam, shall we start with Tevatiya?
00:58I guess that is a pretty obvious question to ask. Because Robin, you had a ringside view of all the fireworks there.
01:04Tell us, take us through the Tevatiya innings. What you told him, what he told you and how it came about?
01:10He didn't say much. He was… You know, obviously when I went in the bag, he wasn't in a good state.
01:17Because he was really trying hard to score runs, but he wasn't able to score runs.
01:21One of the things I said in the dugout is, guys, it's very easy for us to kind of be upset with him and be angry with him.
01:28But right now, what he needs is our support. So, let's make sure that we are supporting him as much as we can.
01:34So, when I went out to bat, one of the first things I said to him was that, don't worry about what's happened.
01:39Let's try and see if we can just focus on watching the ball.
01:43Because when you are trying really hard and nothing is working, you suddenly lose focus on the most basic things of batting.
01:50And that can be as simple as just tracking the ball in the bowler's hand.
01:55And I said, don't worry about anything, about scoring runs or anything. Just look at the ball.
02:00This is what the bowler will look to do. This is what his variations are.
02:04So, I told him that he bowls a decent bouncer. He bowls, you know, Cottrell bowls an off-cutter, slower ball.
02:10Maybe for you, he may try and bowl an egg-cutter one. I don't know. But just be ready for it.
02:15But make sure you are watching the ball.
02:16To give credit to Rahul at that point, he was very receptive to what I was sharing with him.
02:21What goes through your mind when the timing deserts you?
02:24It can happen to everybody. It happened to the best of batsmen.
02:27Yeah, it happens. It's a part and parcel. It's like any other human being having a bad day at the office, right?
02:33At the end of the day, we do a work that is exposed to the world and for judgement.
02:38And the thing is, our work also brings a lot of people joy in their lives.
02:42I don't look at it as a disadvantage or a bad thing. But it's actually something that's just there in the public domain.
02:48Our job is there in the public domain.
02:49So, it's not like when you all are doing your jobs, it's like someone is zooming in cameras and noticing every little aspect of your job.
02:56And there are days when you are trying to be creative, when you are trying to do something and then it just doesn't flow.
03:01You know, that flow is just not there.
03:03Fortunately for us in sport, there are certain cues that we can fall back on.
03:07And sometimes you need someone from the external to kind of remind you and kind of just give you that one kind of spark that will rekindle that light of connection between your game and where you want it to be.
03:20How are you looking forward to the season?
03:22As I said, you have been there, done that.
03:25We remember the 2014 season of yours here with KKR.
03:28You didn't put a foot wrong, kind of a thing. That was it.
03:32So, how are you looking forward to the season with your new franchisee?
03:36I am truly excited about the new franchise and also our prospects in this tournament.
03:42I think the fact that we are one of the most underrated teams, if not the most underrated team in this tournament gives us a pretty good advantage.
03:51I think we have got a very decent bowling line-up.
03:55We have got a very, very decent batting line-up.
03:57We bat pretty deep as a unit.
03:59For me, I think our prospects are pretty bright.
04:02Having said that, I think it's also important for us to kind of respect the momentum.
04:06I think IPL is a tournament where momentum plays a big factor.
04:10I think as a unit, we have worked really hard over the last month.
04:13Especially the Indian contingent and a couple of foreign players who came in almost a month ago,
04:18came in here and worked really hard on our skills, adjusting, acclimatizing to this place.
04:24You are the fifth franchisee, so you have been at both sides of the spectrum.
04:28You have taken somebody like KKR to the championship in 2014.
04:33You have been with a successful team like Mumbai.
04:36Pune, possibly, it was short-lived.
04:39So, that's a different story altogether.
04:42And also, RCB.
04:43So, if we ask you to sum up this journey, and you are also one of the highest scorers of IPL, in the IPL history.
04:53So, how do you look back at this journey, in a nutshell, if you can just share it with us?
04:58To be a part of every IPL since its inception has been something that I am very, very grateful for.
05:03Looking at my personal journey, I think in the IPL, it's been an evolutionary one.
05:08I started off as a top-order batsman.
05:11Went on to back in the top order for a long period of time.
05:15When I look at my journey from a larger perspective, I see it have transitioned beautifully from a youngster who is just coming up the ranks, who has done well.
05:26And then, someone who has been experienced and won a championship for his side, won the orange cap.
05:30And then, I have reached a place in my life where I am a senior pro within the group.
05:35And I am trying to help and nurture and add value to the younger members in the group.
05:40I think the hunger to win championships is still very, very much alive.
05:44I truly want to win championships and I want to go out there and perform match-winning performances and add value to my teammates.
05:51This is regarding Rashid Khan.
05:54Because they say you have perhaps played Rashid Khan the best.
05:58Rashid Khan, they call him the best leg spinner around now.
06:00And you can even see a lot of Indian players giving him a lot of respect and seeing out his overs.
06:06But your record against him is superb.
06:09Do you have a secret or how do you play it?
06:12Well, I think he is a fantastic bowler, for sure.
06:13And I think one of his biggest advantages is that he is so quick off the wicket.
06:19And I think the reason he is quick off the wicket is because he runs into bowl and his arm action.
06:25And the speed of his arm action when he bowls.
06:27So, he has got an extremely fast arm action.
06:30So, with that arm action, for me, I understand that he is going to get minor deviations on the ball.
06:36But he is not necessarily going to get big turn on the ball.
06:40For him to be able to turn the ball, he has to be able to put more on the ball.
06:44And with the arm action being so fast, it's hard for him to put so much on the ball.
06:48So, for me, I look to play him more as someone who bowls fast-ish leg-spinners but don't deviate too much.
06:58When I played him right at the beginning, I decided that I would not look to play him across.
07:03I wouldn't look to play him square off the wicket.
07:05I would look to play him down the ground, no matter what length he bowled.
07:08Because I felt like that was the best area for me to look to score runs to him.
07:12And if I am prepared to play a quick leg-spinner or a quick ball, that kind of a quick flipper,
07:18if I am able to play him down the ground and play him more as a gentle medium pacer than a spinner,
07:26then I probably will give myself a little time to pick him early and then look to take the attack to him.
07:32Since World Cup is next year, and also, where do Rob and Uttapa go from here?
07:38Do you still harbor ambitions of getting back to the Indian squad?
07:42Oh, absolutely, sir. I actually fully believe.
07:46There is something inside me that believes that I have a World Cup left in me.
07:50If I didn't have enough left in the tank, I would be cheating this game by playing it.
07:56I wouldn't be doing that injustice to my teammates, to myself, to the game of cricket that's given me so much.
08:03If there isn't a fire burning, I wouldn't be playing.
08:06And the fire is burning and it's burning bright.
08:08There has been a lot of talk about holding the IPL in these times of new normal.
08:14And the players have come in almost a month before the tournament started.
08:19Then during these 50-55 days, they are cooked up in the hotel room.
08:23There is no social life.
08:25So, there could be a kind of, you know, things like performance anxiety,
08:31things like possibility of depression lurking somewhere, staying away from home.
08:36All these things may affect a player.
08:40Now, you are somebody like who have come out into the open about it and spoken a few months back.
08:47So, what would be kind of your advice to these people?
08:50And how do you advise them to come out of it?
08:54Come out of it, fight their own battles, fight their own demons and again, go on to give their best.
09:00In this scenario, I think the franchises have a lot to do, would have a lot to do.
09:07If they aren't doing what is required to keep the players in the best space mentally.
09:12I think it can be lonesome.
09:13It can feel lonely.
09:16But there is also a different perspective that you can give to it.
09:19Despite being in a pandemic like this,
09:22we are able to provide entertainment and bring joy to people,
09:25allow them to experience a range of emotions by doing what we do.
09:29So, this is something that a lot of people don't have an opportunity to do.
09:34Thank you so much, Robin, for your time.
09:37And those are wonderfully honest words.
09:39Words of wisdom, I would say.
09:40And wishing you all the very best in the campaign.
09:45Yeah.
09:45Thanks again on behalf of Gulf News, from myself and Shyam.
09:49Thanks, Robin.
09:51Robin, all the best for your next matches.
09:53Thank you very much, sir.
09:54Thanks a lot.
09:54It's a pleasure.