Almost two weeks after a controversial Indian Express report ahead of the Sydney Test claimed a senior player was trying to portray himself as an interim skipper and allegedly labelled himself as ‘Mr Fix-it’, former Indian cricketer Robin Uthappa pointed guns at star India batter KL Rahul, apart from star batter Virat Kohli and criticised the latter for taking a selfish stand.
Though Uthappa was unsure if it was Virat Kohli or not, he also kept KL Rahul as a suspect for trying to enforce his own personal agenda in the ‘Mr. Fix-It’ row.
Uthappa breaks his silence:
Breaking his silence on the Team India dressing room chat leaks, the 2007 World T20 winner lashed out at the unidentified cricketer and shared his perspective.
Speaking to Lallantop, Uthappa said, “I am the kind of person, if something is going on, I directly mention it. In the team, I know people individually. But when a tour is going on, a tournament is going on, I don’t talk to any of them because every player has his own routine and mindset. At that point, it doesn’t feel right to enter into their space. So I don’t talk to anyone during a tournament, nor do I message anyone, even if they play good or bad. If they are playing bad, then I do drop a message to motivate them. If they have done well, made some records, then I congratulate them. But besides that I don’t interact. But in this, I don’t know who is Mr Fix-it. But if he has come out…”
Uthappa repeatedly denied if he knew who was ‘Mr Fix-it’ was, but stated that the player should be ashamed for his actions. “People say it is speculation. For me, in the Indian team, there is no smoke without fire,” he said.
‘Could be KL Rahul, Virat Kohli’
Asked to identify the player, Uthappa said, “It is senior players.” But when pressurised, he revealed, “It could be KL Rahul, Virat Kohli. We think Rahul is not senior, he has been in the side for the last eight-nine years.”
“In that sense, it is speculative. But there is another side to this also. But for me what do I care about, the Indian team being perceived right. Especially during the course of an important series. This is the most important series and during that, even if that happens, keep it inside, why take it outside. Families have differences at any point in time,” he further added.
