'My hard work is paying off'

Bengaluru: Robin Uthappa did the star turn for Royal Challengers Bangalore with his blitzkrieg on Tuesday night. Here he explains to the media how he raised the tempo against Chennai Super Kings at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium,

Excerpts:

On dropped catches making his day

Well all I wanted to do was bat till the end. But anyhow, when [Murali] Vijay dropped the catch, he was crossing over, so I said 'Thanks, Buddy' (smiles). I was pretty confident about my abilities. So I just knew I had to bat till the end to set up a good total.

On playing the reverse sweep against Murali

[That’s] something I am very comfortable with. I think the reverse sweep is one the shots I play with confidence. So when [Murali] was bowling around the wicket, I knew that I had to take away a lot of his LBW chances by playing the reverse sweep. I played quite well. Once I picked his off-spinners or the straighter ones - I played them immediately. I was pretty confident about that shot.

On the morale in the team

[There is a] very good atmosphere in the team. Actually we understand the emotion of a defeat. We know what it takes to come back into the tournament. Last year also we experienced the same thing. We lost five games in a row and then won four in a row. We understand how it works. We know that we need to get our basics right. We need to have our routines in place. Each individual understands his own responsibility. Each individual is actually fulfilling all his responsibilities, which makes it easier for the whole team to work together.

On the improvement in his game

Well I mentioned before that last off-season during July and August and September I worked a lot on my batting, worked a lot on my fitness and on my mind as well. I feel a lot more confident about my game, [I’ve] made a few changes in my technique, which I think are just showing up now. I am happy that I put in all the hard work. I believe honest hard work does show results and I am glad it is right now.

On whether playing an injury-hit Delhi Daredevils will be easy

Well I believe that in a Twenty20 game, it can be anybody's game. Whoever plays good cricket on that particular day will go on to win the game. You need to be on your toes, you need think on your feet all the time. If we can bring everything together and put it on the platter on that particular day, we will certainly do well against them.

On their Indian players doing well

Well, I think our Indian set-up is a lot better right now. Our domestic, especially our Karnataka domestic cricketers, are very hardworking. And I think results of that are actually showing now. Someone like Vinay Kumar and Virat [Kohli] again who has been doing very well. PK [Praveen Kumar] has been bowling very well. Vinay especially has been doing very well. I am very happy for him. I am very glad that that he is tasting some success at this level.

On the team’s strategy against pinch-hitters like Virender Sehwag

I wouldn't call Sehwag a pinch-hitter - he is a demolisher (smiles). Well I think we are bowling really well. [Dale] Steyn's bowling really well. He is really building up some pace there. He is bowling [in] good areas as well. Again, if we can continue to bowl those good areas and get our basics right [we’ll do well].

On his preferrred batting slot

I have always batted wherever the team's required me to bat. I enjoy batting right at the top of the order. But the team requires me to bat at No 3, No 4. I don't mind it. I am pretty much happy doing it for the team.

On his shoulder injury

I just [hurt] it while diving there at the last ball. I felt it just jump out of the socket and come back in. So it should be fine. I’ve been icing it so it should be okay.

On the pitch

It was very different. I think the last game it had a lot more even bounce. This one was a little more spongy. It stopped just a touch. But there was a little height on the ball. So you couldn't play through the line. We could see a lot of players playing beside their body. So you needed to really get set and then go after the bowling once you understood the bounce of the wicket.