By IANS
Bangalore : Twenty-one-year-old Robin Uthappa held his nerve in the crucial moments to blast 47 runs off 33 balls to give India a nail-biting victory in the sixth one-day international in London’s Kennington Oval Wednesday but many in this IT capital missed out on the heroics of the Karnataka lad.
“Many in my neighbourhood apparently thought the match was India’s as openers Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly notched up 150 runs for the first wicket,” said K. Suman, a college student staying in upscale Indiranagar in the city.
“I would have missed watching Uthappa’s fine innings as I too thought the match was ours but on second thoughts I stayed up and I am happy I did so,” he said when asked whether there were any celebrations in his neighbourhood following India’s thrilling victory that tied the seven-match series at 3-3.
The story was the same in several other areas in Bangalore as the majority of people either switched off their TV sets or switched channels to watch other programmes.
B. Usha, content editor with a software firm and resident of middle-class dominated Rajajinagar, was sad that she did not watch the match through to enjoy Uthappa’s performance under pressure.
“When Sourav and Sachin took the score to 150, I thought victory would be easy. And when two wickets fell cheaply, I switched to a Kannada movie,” she said.
Uthappa, son of former hockey player and international referee of repute Venu Uthappa and Rosy, had the satisfaction of scoring the winning shot in the crucial match.
Robin’s parents were not immediately available for their comments.