Robin Uthappa may not be a permanent fixture in Team India's batting order but
thanks to his match-winning knock in the sixth ODI yesterday, he at least has
won a couple of admirers in rival captains Rahul Dravid and Paul Collingwood.
Uthappa played a blinder under pressure, walking in when India
needed 83 runs off 58 balls and went on to hit two boundaries off the last over
to snatch a sensational win for India to level the series 3-3.
Naturally, Dravid was all praise for the youngster.
"We were struggling but Robin finished it off for us.
Any time you chase 300-plus is always going to be a test but the young boy set
up a brilliant victory for us," he said.
Uthappa was unbeaten after a 33-ball blitzkrieg of 47 and showed
nerves of steel even after the exit of India's last recognised batsmen, Mahendra Singh Dhoni.
Dravid said Uthappa deserved the credit more because he was
playing in an unfamiliar position.
"I've never seen Robin bat at seven before. He's got a
good cricketing brain. He's improving all the time and working very hard in
nets. Watching him he's begging to be picked.
"Credit to him because he might not have batted at No.
7 in his life, but here he managed to control the chase." Collingwood echoed
Dravid's view on the player, who has earned his stripe as a hard-hitting opener,
and admitted it was Uthappa's knock that took the match away from England.
"He played well in the pressure situation. He stayed calm
and it's good for India. He seems a cool customer, knew his areas to score,
and had a little bit of luck along the way," Collingwood said.
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