"I started smoking in the 2021 IPL" - Former CSK star makes shocking revelations on recent podcast

Former India cricketer Robin Uthappa has revealed that limited playing opportunities during the 2021 IPL season with Chennai Super Kings (CSK) caused him significant stress, which led him to take up smoking as a coping mechanism.

Despite CSK winning the IPL 2021 title, Uthappa played in only four matches, scoring 115 runs at an average of 28.75 with a strike rate of 136.90, including one fifty. During a recent appearance on the YouTube podcast First Umpire, he reflected on his limited opportunities, saying:

“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."

Uthappa further revealed that over time he started smoking more, but in December 2023, he decided to quit after his son Neale read the warning on the cigarette pack about its fatal risks. The 39-year-old said:

“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. So in 2023, at the end of 23, maybe 26 December, and I was also thinking, in fact on 20 December I had also told Sheetal that, yaar, I am doing this but I don’t even like that I am doing it, but it has become a habit. So I told her, yaar, maybe I will quit right now, within a week. I have the ability to start and go off something cold turkey completely. But I have the ability to do that. Where it came from I don’t know, but I have that ability in me.”

“So on 26 December, Neale, my son, came to me and said, yaar papa, why do you smoke? So I said, yaar Neelu, I don’t know, even I don’t like it now but I am doing it. I asked, what happened? So he said, look, by then he was learning to form, to read sentences, and he was able to read sentences. So on the cigarette box there was a disclaimer that this smoking can cause death. So he said that he read this box, that it says this. “I don’t want you to die. Please stop it,” he added.

The former CSK batter revealed that he quit smoking on 31 December 2023 and has remained smoke-free since. He said:

“I said, okay, then I will stop. I told him that on 31 December I will stop, after that I will not do it. So on 31 December at 12 o’clock he was with us. So I went with him and I said, here, take this cigarette packet, take this lighter. I opened the dustbin and told him, put it inside. So he put it in, and after that I have not smoked a cigarette till now.”

Meanwhile, during his playing career, Uthappa represented CSK for two seasons (2021 and 2022), appearing in a total of 16 matches. He scored 345 runs at an average of 23.00 with a strike rate of 135.29, including three fifties.

---

“No, nothing” - Former CSK batter opens up about avoiding the partying lifestyle

During the same interview, former CSK cricketer Robin Uthappa revealed that he had stayed away from the partying culture and did not drink alcohol until the age of 28. He said:

“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.”

Robin Uthappa played 59 matches for India across the two white-ball formats, scoring 1,183 runs at an average of 25.71, including seven fifties.