Robin Uthappa reveals how Venkatesh Prasad inspired him to make a comeback to the Indian team

Out-of-favour Team India batter Robin Uthappa has revealed how former fast bowler Venkatesh Prasad inspired him to make a comeback to the national side back in 2007.

The right-handed batter from Karnataka has represented his country in 46 ODIs and 13 T20Is since making his debut in 2006.

Uthappa made it to the Indian side on the back of consistent performances in domestic cricket. He was soon rewarded with a place in the Indian team as a replacement for Virender Sehwag in the final ODI against England. He made the most of the opportunity by scoring 86 runs, the highest by an Indian on debut at the time.

That conversation with Venky helped me regain focus and get runs: Robin Uthappa

However, he soon hit rock-bottom and was left out of the squad after bagging a duck against West Indies. Robin Uthappa returned to domestic cricket for Karnataka, who was coached by former fast bowler Venkatesh Prasad back then.

During a chat with the Grade Cricketer, the 35-year-old revealed how a conversation with the coach helped him regain his focus and regain his form again.

"I scored a 50 in the first innings of the second game of the season and I was very happy with myself," Robin Uthappa said during a podcast with the Grade Cricketer. "And then he called me to his room and he said, 'Rob want to have a conversation with you.'

"He showed me the highest run-scorers list of that season. He said you are number 47. He said, 'you are an Indian cricketer who has had a great start to international cricket but you are at 47th place. Is that where you want to be when the season ends?"

That kind of keyed me in to really focus and get runs. I got a hundred in the second innings and ended up scoring 850 runs in the season - top scored in the country with 4-5 hundreds and simply because of that one conversation with Venky (Venkatesh Prasad)," Robin Uthappa said.

That season, Robin Uthappa racked up 857 runs from just seven matches, making it impossible to keep him out of the national side. He was also part of the squad that won the World T20 in 2007. However, another poor patch in 2008, in which he only managed 179 runs from 11 matches, led to his downfall in international cricket.

He went onto make a comeback in 2014 following another dream run in domestic cricket but failed to replicate it on the biggest stage. The veteran batter was recently seen in the 14th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) plying his trade for Chennai Super Kings. He had to warm the benches in the presence of Ruturaj Gaikwad and Faf du Plessis at the top of the batting order.