Despite being repurchased by Chennai Super Kings (CSK) at the IPL 2022 Mega Auction, Robin Uthappa shared an interesting take on the whole procedure of the bidding war, saying he would prefer if the IPL opts for a draft system instead to allocate players. The experienced Indian middle-order batter, whom CSK bought back for a […]
Despite being repurchased by Chennai Super Kings (CSK) at the IPL 2022 Mega Auction, Robin Uthappa shared an interesting take on the whole procedure of the bidding war, saying he would prefer if the IPL opts for a draft system instead to allocate players.
The experienced Indian middle-order batter, whom CSK bought back for a sum of INR 2 crores, gave an honest account of what he thinks about the auction process, specifically how nervy and anxious it all could be for the player involved.
The 36-year-old disclosed the other end of the story, where how a player feels during the bidding hours is grossly ignored and what gets focused excessively on is the end sum he gets picked for by a particular team. The mental impact of the auction, Robin Uthappa believes, is like an “examination” sometimes.
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Robin Uthappa opened up on the auction process used to finalise squads in IPL. (pic courtesy: Twitter)
“The auction feels like an examination which you have written a long time ago, and you’re just awaiting the results. You feel like cattle (commodity), to be honest,” said Robin Uthappa on an episode of ‘Mind Over Medals’, a News 9 sports’ podcast.
“It’s not the most pleasing feeling, and I think that’s the thing about cricket, especially in India… everything about you is there for the world to consume and then judge and express their opinions about it. Having an opinion about performances is one thing, but having an opinion on how much you get sold for is quite something else.”
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Uthappa said the cons of the auction must be felt the hardest by the cricketers who go unsold, sometimes despite having performed very well for their respective sides because of how the auction dynamics work.
“You can’t imagine what the guys who don’t get sold go through. It cannot be pleasant. My heart goes out to guys who have been there for a long time and then miss out and don’t get picked. It can be defeating sometimes.”
The veteran right-hander said it is not good to experience your livelihood and sustenance depending largely on what sum someone else is willing to pay you.
“Suddenly your value as a cricketer becomes about how much somebody is willing to spend on you, and it’s so haphazard… there is no method to the madness,” Uthappa stressed.
“People have tried their best to kind of grapple around it for the last 15 years, and I don’t know if they have a clue because if you speak to a lot of the people who have been there at the auction, they’ll say ‘you know it’s so random… if you’d come later you’d probably have made more money… if you’d come earlier there’d have been enough money so you’d have made more.”
“I really hope for the sake of the sanity of everybody that this goes into a draft system where it is more respectful,” he added.
On a happier note, Robin Uthappa said playing for CSK again is the completion of a dream he and his family had ahead of the mega auction, for the level of security and clarity he has gotten in the MS Dhoni-led side he hasn’t experienced elsewhere.
A journeyman cricketer in the IPL, who has previously taken the field for Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB), Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and Rajasthan Royals (RR), Uthappa played only 4 games in IPL 2021 but made valuable contributions, finishing with 115 runs at a strike-rate of 136.90.
“Playing for a team like CSK was something I desired, it was one of my only prayers: let’s get back to CSK. My family, even my son, prayed for that, which is special for me,” he said.
“I’m happy to be back in a place where there’s a sense of security and a sense of respect. There’s a backing that’s given which makes me feel like I can do anything,” Uthappa concluded.
