Rohin Uthappa reveals that he was into depression during his first season with Bangalore

Robin Uthappa is arguably one of the best batters in the history of the Indian T20 league. The veteran has scored 4813 runs in 196 games at an average of 27.98 in this league, including 26 fifties.

In the process, he has played for several teams such as Chennai, Mumbai, Bangalore, Kolkata, Rajasthan, and the now-defunct Pune. However, he was at his best when he played for the Kolkata-based franchise. He played an instrumental role in their title-winning campaign in 2014. During that edition, he won the Orange Cap as well. The 36-year-old currently represents the Chennai-based franchise.

However, he was at his lowest during his first season for Bangalore in 2009. Uthappa recently revealed that he was in depression during that time. While speaking to Ravichandran Ashwin on his YouTube channel, the batter said that he was going through some personal problems at that time.

"I was going through something in my personal life and I was completely into depression during my first season with Bangalore. I didn't play well even for one game that season. The only game in which I did well was when I was dropped and picked again. I played thinking that I really needed to do something in this match. Someone from Mumbai had told me that if I didn't sign the transfer papers, I'd not get to play in the XI for Mumbai," said Robin Uthappa

It is to be noted that the 36-year-old had an underwhelming season in 2009 with the bat as well. He only managed to score 175 runs in 15 games. However, Bangalore still made it to the final of the 2009 edition. Uthappa drew light on how Bangalore were at their best during that time.

“I feel like I played during the best phase of Bangalore. It was a phase in the Indian T20 league where the first year was a lot of fun because everyone was finding ground. I think from the second year onwards, it became really big. So, I was along with Zaheer Khan and Manish Pandey. I was one of the first people to be transferred in the Indian T20 league. For me, it became extremely difficult because my loyalties were completely laid out with Mumbai at that point. It happened a month before the Indian T20 league and I refused to sign the transfer papers,” he added