A rejuvenated Robin Uthappa is relishing his new role as an opener alongside skipper Gautam Gambhir in Kolkata Knight Riders team and feels "confidence and understanding" was the mantra behind the duo's success in the ongoing IPL-7.
Both Uthappa and Gambhir has been out of the Indian team for quite some time now and would be eyeing a berth in the national squad for the upcoming England tour riding on their performances in the ongoing IPL.
"The confidence is good for both of us. Gautam and I understand each other very well. We play to our plan and we complement each other well. We run very well in between the wickets. We egg each other on. We don't really think about pressure. We just think of going out there and doing our job," said Uthappa, who guided KKR to an eight-wicket win over Chennai Super Kings last night to take the team an inch closer to a play-off spot.
Uthappa struck 67 from 39 balls and shared 64 runs in just seven overs for the opening wicket with Gambhir to raise their third 50 plus partnership. The duo also have two century plus stands in the last five innings.
Talking about his new found consistency, the 28-year-old batsman from Bangalore said his focus this season was to play proper cricketing shots without taking any undue risks in the initial overs.
"If I can hold good shapes and get behind the line of the ball and just look to put into gaps, I will have great chances of putting the team on course for a good score. The important thing is to get the team to a good start in T20 format," he said.
Asked what he meant by "holding good shapes", Uthappa said: "In T20 cricket as you want to hit the ball really hard, you tend to grab your right hand a bit, you tend to square up a little bit. I want to make sure that I stay side on as much as possible and play a little late. That's the intent. If I can go out there and try doing that 10 times, I feel I can find the gaps at least seven times.
