“They wanted to send me and Manish Pandey to RCB" - Orange Cap winner's massive statement on developments from IPL 2008

Former India cricketer Robin Uthappa has opened up about his move from Mumbai Indians (MI) to Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) ahead of IPL 2009. Uthappa had played for MI in the inaugural season of the IPL in 2008, scoring 320 runs in 14 innings at an average of 35.55 and a strike rate of 114.69, with a highest score of 48.

The 39-year-old recently appeared on the YouTube podcast First Umpire, where he revealed that following the 2008 season, Mumbai wanted to bring in pacer Zaheer Khan and therefore traded him along with Manish Pandey to RCB. 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.”

Uthappa played two seasons for RCB (2009 and 2010), appearing in 31 matches and scoring 549 runs at an average of 23.87, with a strike rate of 141.49, including four half-centuries.

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“I refused” - Robin Uthappa on MI wanting him to go to RCB for IPL 2009

During the same conversation, Robin Uthappa said he was determined to win the IPL for Mumbai Indians and refused to move to RCB. He said:

“Loyalty is 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.”

Robin Uthappa played 205 matches in his IPL career, scoring 4,952 runs at an average of 27.51 and a strike rate of 130.35, including 27 half-centuries.

His best season came in 2014, when he won the Orange Cap representing Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR). In KKR’s title-winning campaign, he amassed 660 runs in 16 innings at an average of 44.00 and a strike rate of 137.78, with five half-centuries to his credit.