5 controversial revelations by Robin Uthappa in recent podcast appearance amid Asia Cup 2025

Former India batter Robin Uthappa recently appeared on a YouTube podcast 'First Umpire' amid the ongoing Asia Cup 2025. On the podcast, he made some controversial and shocking revelations.

Robin Uthappa made his international debut in 2006 in an ODI against England at Indore. He made his T20I debut a year later against Scotland in 2007. The right-hander played 46 ODIs and 13 T20Is in his international career. He made 934 ODI runs with six fifties and 249 runs in T20Is with a single fifty.

While he did not play a lot of international cricket, Uthappa had an impressive domestic and IPL career. He announced his retirement from all forms of Indian cricket in 2022 and was seen playing in the 2022/23 edition of the International League T20 (ILT20).

That said, here are the five controversial revelations Robin Uthappa made in his recent podcast appearance.

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#5 On starting to drink at the age of 28

Robin Uthappa revealed that he had started drinking at the age of 28. He was away from partying till that age. However, he admitted that he only consumed alcohol socially and did not get into the party culture.

"I started drinking at the age of 28, between 28 and 29, meaning drinking socially, no partying, nothing. I knew that if I drift there, then maybe I won’t come back, because emotionally I was quite volatile at home, and distractions obviously would, that would maybe take my cricket somewhere else. So I didn’t even entertain it," he said.

Uthappa first came into the limelight through his brilliant performance in the 2005 Challenger Trophy. As a result, he got the opportunity to make his India debut in early 2006.

He impressed in his maiden outing, scoring a 96-ball 86 while opening the batting as India beat England by seven wickets.

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#4 On attacks after the 2007 ODI World Cup debacle

Robin Uthappa was a part of the Indian team during the 2007 ODI World Cup. It was a disastrous tournament for the Men In Blue. They failed to make the Super Eights and were knocked out from the Group stage itself.

Uthappa revealed that there were holes made by air-gun pellets in the glass in one of his balconies at home when he returned from the tournament.

"At my home, in one of the balconies, we had covered it with glass. In that glass there were holes made by air-gun pellets. I am talking about 2007. So you think about multiple things, you know, how to process this, how to stay positive after this. It’s not easy, it’s very… and at one point I did think, will I even play cricket again or not, let alone play for India.”

He played three games in that World Cup and scored 30 runs. It was a poor tournament for Robin Uthappa himself as he failed to perform.

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#3 On Karun Nair alienating him

Robin Uthappa played for Karnataka for the majority of his domestic career. During the 2016-17 season, he gave an interview where he let out his frustration at not being given the opportunity to play Test cricket. He had stated that some players got chances easily while others had to struggle.

"There was an interview. At that point, I was trying to get into the Test team. I was frustrated because despite performing well, I wasn’t even being considered. Maybe all of those emotions came out in the conversation. I said in the interview that Test caps were being given away too easily and that some people really needed to earn them rather than just being given them freely," he said.

Uthappa revealed that one of his Karnataka teammates told Karun Nair that the statement was pointed at him. It created a misunderstanding as Nair eventually distanced himself from Uthappa.

"Someone from our team took that piece of interview and told Karun Nair that I had said it about him. Karun Nair, who was like a younger brother, alienated me at that time because he was close to getting a Test cap. He didn’t check with me and believed it. A few days later, some infighting started. When the interview came out, since it was in Bombay, and Bombay loves to dominate domestic cricket, the media there even portrayed it in a way that could be perceived as if I was talking about Karun. Karun believed it and distanced himself from me,” he added.

Uthappa eventually left the Karnataka team after the 2016-17 season. He ended up playing 99 first-class matches for the state.

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#2 On MI transferring Robin Uthappa and Manish Pandey to RCB

Robin Uthappa made his IPL debut with the Mumbai Indians (MI) in the 2008 season. However, he remained with the team for just one season. Uthappa revealed that MI wanted to trade himself and Manish Pandey to Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) for Zaheer Khan ahead of the 2009 season.

While he did not want to be transferred, the deal eventually took place with Robin Uthappa and Manish Pandey moving to RCB.

"Loyalty was very big in cricket. So when I was playing for Mumbai, I felt like I am Mumbai, and I will not leave this and go anywhere. I wanted to make Mumbai win, that was my mindset. So when I was told that I was going to be transferred, I refused. I said I don’t want to be transferred, I don’t want to go," he said.

"They wanted to bring Zaheer Khan from Bangalore to Mumbai, and they wanted to send me and Manish Pandey to Bangalore. That was a deal, I think, between the owners. I don’t know. I don’t know the insides of it. I played cricket only for the love of cricket and existed only from that space," he added.

He spent two seasons with RCB from 2009 to 2010. From 31 matches, he made 549 runs with four half-centuries.

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#1 On beginning to smoke in IPL 2021

Robin Uthappa played for the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in IPL 2021. However, he did not get many opportunities and revealed that he was frustrated from within. To deal with the stress, Uthappa began smoking and used it as a coping mechanism.

"Right now in 2021, when I was playing for CSK and I was part of the team, and I was not getting to play. Obviously internally it was very stressful and internally emotionally very challenging for me. And when you play for the team, it means you want to make sure that your energy, your value addition, what you want to do for the team, that should not interfere. So I was able to manage that, but at the back end I was in quite a lot of pain. So as a coping mechanism I started smoking in the 2021 IPL, and in 2023 I had a conversation with my son when it started off as a one-off thing and it went up to around four to five cigarettes," he stated.

Robin Uthappa played four matches and scored 115 runs at an average of 28.75 and a strike-rate of 136.90 with one half-century.