Former India star Robin Uthappa has finally ended the suspense over Team India’s Mr Fix It which left fans guessing since the Border Gavaskar Trophy.
Before the final test match in Sydney, reports surfaced alleging that a senior player was attempting to position himself as the interim captain, claiming to be Mr Fix it. Uthappa did not name individuals hinting towards Virat Kohli and KL Rahul.
Uthappa strongly condemned the actions of the players, criticising their attempt to disrupt the harmony within the dressing room.
“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,” Uthappa told Lallantop.
“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. People say it is speculation. For me, in the Indian team, there is no smoke without fire,” he added.
While directly questioned about the identity of player involved in the Mr. Fix-it controversy, Uthappa suggested that the individual in questions would likely be a senior player within the team.
He specifically mentioned Virat Kohli and KL Rahul as potential candidates. Uthappa strongly criticised the player’s actions.
“It is senior players. 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,” the former India opener further stated.
“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,” Uthappa concluded.
Rohit Sharma‘s batting failure during the test series against Australia brought him under strict Scrutiny. He managed to score only 31 runs across three tests with an average of 6.20.
Owing to his poor performance Rohit Sharma opted out of India’s fifth test against Australia, while Jasprit Bumrah took over the captaincy from Rohit and led the Sydney test.
India suffered a six wicket defeat in the Sydney Test to eventually lose the series 3-1. While Rohit Sharma struggled his batting, Virat Kohli’s performance in the series has also been underwhelming 190 runs in five tests, averaging 23.75.
