"When I Spoke To Him...": Robin Uthappa Reveals Chat With Virat Kohli On Ambati Rayudu Row

Former India wicketkeeper Robin Uthappa has recalled an interview he gave back in 2019, where he openly criticised Virat Kohli for not selecting Ambati Rayudu in the ODI World Cup squad that year. Speaking on his YouTube channel, Uthappa revealed that his remarks about Kohli's captaincy had a negative impact on his camaraderie with the latter. The 39-year-old acknowledged that while he had the right to voice his views, he should've spoken to Kohli personally before criticising him publically.

"In that whole conversation, the intent was not to speak about Virat. That interview was meant to be about me. I was asked a question which I spoke to. I didn't take into consideration at that point the sentiments of Virat or the fact that even if this is what I believe, he should know what I believe and that gives me the right to voice that. My relationship or my camaraderie with Virat was impacted by that. I saw that for what it was, just based on that one-on-one relationship. My learning from that was, when I spoke to him about it, I acknowledged that I should have spoken to him before, even if it was what I believed," said Uthappa.

Uthappa insisted it is important to respect the opinions of others, highlighting that the incident taught him a valuable

"I didn't speak about my experience with Virat. I spoke about what I saw one of my closest friends experience under his leadership. It wasn't even his leadership, it was the style of leadership. Everyone is entitled to have their own style of leadership, and everyone is entitled to have their opinion. I felt, at least for my relationship with him, I should have spoken to him about it before I spoke about it on national television. That was my learning from that, and I think that sensitivity we must extend to cricketers or people in the same fraternity," he added.

Notably, Rayudu's omission from the squad had become a major talking point back then. He was leading the race to be India's no.4 during the tournament, but the selectors made a late call to included all-rounder Vijay Shankar due to his '3D' abilities.

Topics mentioned in this article

India Cricket Team Virat Kohli Robin Uthappa Ambati Rayudu Cricket