Former India cricketer Robin Uthappa has always been known as an expressive and honest personality. Recently, in a YouTube podcast named First Umpire during the ongoing Asia Cup 2025, Uthappa opened up about his personal life, career challenges, and hidden struggles. His words have surprised fans, as he revealed stories that were never shared before.
Uthappa made his international debut in 2006 against England and went on to play 46 ODIs and 13 T20Is for India. Though his international career was short, he became a star in the IPL and domestic cricket, where his consistency and fearless batting made him popular. After retiring from Indian cricket in 2022, he continued to play franchise leagues abroad.
Here are some of the most controversial revelations Robin Uthappa made in his recent interview.
1. Late Start with Alcohol
Uthappa shared that he stayed away from drinking and partying until the age of 28. Even when he began drinking, it was only socially, never as part of a wild lifestyle. He explained that he avoided distractions because he was emotionally sensitive, and indulging in such habits could have hurt his cricket career.
“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,” he said.
2. Scary Incident After the 2007 World Cup Exit
The 2007 ODI World Cup was a painful memory for India, and Uthappa revealed the personal side of it. When he returned home after India’s shocking early exit, he discovered air-gun pellet marks on the glass of his balcony. This left him shaken, and he admitted that he even questioned whether he would ever play cricket again.
“At my home, in one of the balconies, we had covered it with glass. In that glass there were holes made by air-gun pellets. I am talking about 2007. So you think about multiple things, you know, how to process this, how to stay positive after this. It’s not easy, it’s very… and at one point I did think, will I even play cricket again or not, let alone play for India.”
3. Rift with Karun Nair
Uthappa also opened up about an incident from the 2016-17 domestic season. In an interview, he had expressed frustration about not being given a fair chance to play Test cricket.
“There was an interview. At that point, I was trying to get into the Test team. I was frustrated because despite performing well, I wasn’t even being considered. Maybe all of those emotions came out in the conversation. I said in the interview that Test caps were being given away too easily and that some people really needed to earn them rather than just being given them freely,” he said.
His comments were misinterpreted, and someone told Karun Nair that Uthappa’s words were targeted at him. This misunderstanding damaged their close relationship, as Nair distanced himself. Uthappa eventually moved on from Karnataka cricket after that season
“Someone from our team took that piece of interview and told Karun Nair that I had said it about him. Karun Nair, who was like a younger brother, alienated me at that time because he was close to getting a Test cap. He didn’t check with me and believed it. A few days later, some infighting started. When the interview came out, since it was in Bombay, and Bombay loves to dominate domestic cricket, the media there even portrayed it in a way that could be perceived as if I was talking about Karun. Karun believed it and distanced himself from me,” he added.
4. Forced IPL Transfer
In the first season of the IPL, Uthappa played for Mumbai Indians. But before the 2009 season, he was transferred to Royal Challengers Bengaluru along with Manish Pandey in exchange for Zaheer Khan. Uthappa admitted he didn’t want the transfer, as he believed in loyalty to the franchise. However, the trade went through as part of a deal between owners. He went on to play two seasons for RCB, scoring 549 runs with four fifties.
“Loyalty was 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,” 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,” he added.
5. Smoking Habit During IPL 2021
Perhaps the most surprising confession was about his struggle during IPL 2021 with Chennai Super Kings. Uthappa wasn’t getting enough chances to play, which caused frustration and emotional stress. To cope, he began smoking. What started as an occasional habit turned into a regular one, and by 2023 he admitted to smoking four to five cigarettes daily. He shared that it was a personal battle, and a conversation with his son made him reflect on the habit.
“Right now 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, and 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,” he stated.
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