'Holes made by air-gun pellets' - Ex-CSK star opens up on harrowing 2007 World Cup exit experience

Former Indian cricketer Robin Uthappa has recently expressed how it took some time to process the consequences of India's early 2007 ODI World Cup exit. Uthappa was part of the Rahul Dravid-led squad during their hugely disappointing campaign in the Caribbean, especially the haunting loss against neighbours Bangladesh that ruled them out of the tournament.

The Coorg-born spoke on how protests against players had turned ugly and how some violet demonstrators had supposedly shattered one of the glasses in one of Uthappa's balconies at his house in India. Furthermore, the cricketer-turned-commentator also acknowledged that he had also had apprehensions in relation to his cricketing future.  

“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,” shared Uthappa in an interaction on First Umpire.

The former Kolkata Knight Riders and Chennai Super Kings cricketer also admitted that the only time he left his house in the first three weeks of returning to India after the mega event was when he had gone to church. Uthappa revealed that it was tough for him to process the situation at that point in time.

“When we came home, I didn’t even know whether I would play for India again or not, I absolutely did not know. For three weeks, I didn’t leave home. The only time I left home was when I went to church and I came back, that’s it. Obviously ashamed, obviously disappointed. I was 21 years old, 20-21 years old when this happened to me. At that time, based on my exposure at that point, how to process this, a person does not know,” he added.

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India crashed out before the Super Eight stage by getting defeated by Bangladesh and Sri Lanka in their first and third Group B matches by five wickets and 69 runs, respectively. Speaking of Uthappa's tournament, he scored only 30 runs in the three matches. However, he played a crucial role in India's triumph at the inaugural T20 World Cup a few months later to turn things around.