Out-of-favour India batsman Robin Uthappa has weighed in on the debate around the participation of India’s players in overseas T20 leagues, placing trust on BCCI president Sourav Ganguly to bring about a change in the current norms.
Uthappa, 34, played the last of his 59 white-ball games for India in July 2015, although he is a regular in the IPL, having featured in all 12 seasons so far. On current rules, Indian men’s cricketers aren’t allowed to participate in foreign T20 leagues, putting careers such as Uthappa’s at a disadvantage when compared to players from other countries, several of whom turn to the T20 format when out of national reckoning.
“Please let us go, honest to god,” Uthappa was quoted as saying on the BBC‘s Doosra Podcast. “It does hurt when we’re not allowed to go play.
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“It would be so nice if we could go and play at least a couple of others, because as a student of the game, you want to learn and grow as much as you can.”
Uthappa’s views come less than a month after Suresh Raina, his former teammate and another out-of-favour India batsman, spoke up about the existing rule, naming Uthappa alongside Yusuf Pathan and himself as the players who could benefit from a change. “I feel there are a lot of players, including Yusuf (Pathan), myself, Robin Uthappa – a lot of quality players who can go overseas and learn a lot, no matter which league it is,” Raina had told Irfan Pathan in an Instagram live.
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A T20 World Cup winner in 2007, Uthappa trusted Ganguly to bring about a change. “Ganguly is a very progressive thinking human being, someone who has always looked to take India to the next level. He actually laid the foundation for where Indian cricket is now,” said Uthappa.
“We’re hoping that he will look at this at some point.”
