Joy Bhattacharya says mindset and not age Robin Uthappa's problem

There was a lot of expectation on Robin Uthappa when Kolkata Knight Riders started their IPL season. Being one of the senior-most players in the squad, the onus was on the likes of Uthappa and other senior players to guide the team full of youngsters. However, Uthappa failed spectacularly to deliver throughout the season.  The right-handed batsman only scored 282 runs in 11 innings at a mere strike rate of 115.

His disastrous season came to an end on Sunday with yet another failure against Mumbai Indians. At a time when the Knight Riders needed him to score quickly, Uthappa failed as he managed to score just 40 from 47 deliveries. Previously in the tournament, he had faced severe criticism for his knock against Royal Challengers Bangalore, scoring just 9 from 20 balls when his side was chasing 213.

That knock also saw him getting dropped from the playing eleven for two games but it did not make much of a difference as Uthappa looked out of form. Joy Bhattacharjya, who was Knight Riders’ director during Uthappa’s inaugural season with the side, has now said that Uthappa’s mindset was one of the reasons behind the disappointing season.

Recalling Uthappa’s decent start to the season, Bhattacharjya said that age is not a problem for the former Karnataka man. “I saw Robin earlier in the season batting and there were a couple of matches where he just looked so beautiful, hitting that ball straight for six, he just looked so good. So my point is I don’t think it is a problem still with his age, it is just here (his mindset). Somewhere, something is misfiring because he still has those shots,” Bhattacharjya told Cricbuzz.

Knight Riders’ season end

Meanwhile, Knight Riders’ season came to a disappointing end on Sunday with a crushing loss against Mumbai Indians. A win was enough for them to make it to the playoffs but they suffered a heavy nine-wicket loss. Asked to bat first, the Knight Riders scored just 133 before Mumbai chased down the total inside 17 overs while losing just one wicket.