'Intent was not to speak about Virat': Uthappa reveals Kohli was unhappy over criticism

Former India cricketer Robin Uthappa has revealed that his relationship with former India captain Virat Kohli has not been the same since he gave a tell-all interview earlier this year in which he questioned the leadership qualities of the ex-India batter.

In a no-holds-barred interview with Lallantop, Uthappa criticised how Kohli handled Ambati Rayudu before the 2019 World Cup and also hinted that the former captain’s ‘my way or the highway’ leadership style forced Yuvraj Singh to make an early exit from the international arena .

Rayudu was seen as India’s No.4 for the 2019 World Cup with Team India, under Kohli’s captaincy, giving him a streak of matches, but his failures towards the end resulted in Vijay Shankar getting picked for the ICC event as selectors were happier with his ‘3D qualities’.

Uthappa apologises to Kohli

Uthappa had criticised the way Kohli handled the matter, but now admits that he should have had a word with the former captain before talking about the topic publicly.

“In that whole conversation, the intent was not to speak about Virat. That interview was meant to be about me. I was asked a question which I spoke to. I didn’t take into consideration at that point the sentiments of Virat,” Uthappa said on his YouTube channel.

“My relationship or my camaraderie with Virat was impacted by that. My learning from that was, when I spoke to him about it, I acknowledged that I should have spoken to him before, even if it was what I believed.”

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Uthappa added that his harsh comments were not about his experience with Kohli but on the broader captaincy style that he followed.

“I didn’t speak about my experience with Virat. I spoke about what I saw one of my closest friends experience under his leadership. Everyone is entitled to their own style of leadership, and everyone is entitled to have their opinion. But I should have spoken to him about it before I spoke on national television. That was my learning,” Uthappa said.

While talking about Rayudu’s exclusion from the 2019 World Cup to Lallantop, Uthappa branded Kohli as a ‘cut-throat’ leader.

“If he didn’t like anyone, they were cut. Rayudu is the prime example. He had World Cup clothes, kit bag, everything ready, thinking he would play. But you shut the door on him. That wasn’t fair,” Uthappa had said.