5 Players who might replace Robin Uthappa in Chennai in the next season of Indian T20 League

Senior Indian batter Robin Uthappa finally hung his boots from all formats of cricket yesterday the 14^th of September. The 36-year-old proved his excellence with the bat in the Indian T20 League. He has appeared in 205 matches of the league and scored 4952 runs with an average of 27.51 and 27 half-centuries to his name.

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He was playing for the Chennai-based franchise during the season 2021 and 2022. The senior right-hander played a very crucial role in the run of Chennai to the title win in the 2021 edition of the league. So now, his retirement has left the franchise to look at replacements for the senior batter in the middle order of their requirements in terms of experience.

So, here we’ll have a look at five batters who can replace Uthappa during the upcoming season of 2023.

Mandeep Singh

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The senior Punjabi lad has spent more than a decade in the Indian T20 League. He made his first appearance in the marquee franchise league for Kolkata 12 years back in the year 2010 against Mumbai Indians. Since he has scored 1692 with an average of 21.42 and has six centuries to his name.

He is a very strong batter and also has a flexible approach to switching up and down in the batting order. Chennai is known for years to have this kind of player since the first edition of the Indian T20 League.

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So, the skipper MS Dhoni and the management can count on him in the absence of Uthappa during the next season of the tournament.

Manan Vohra

The 29-year-old Chandigarh batting veteran has emerged as one of the finest batters in the Indian domestic circuit. He has delivered his brilliance in the league by scoring important knocks at regular intervals. He has featured in 55 matches of the league since his debut in 2013.

In these matches, Vohra has notched 1073 runs with a strike rate of 131.47 and has three half-centuries to his name. He was picked up by the Lucknow-based franchise in the mega auction for the 2022 edition of the Indian T20 League. He was included by the franchise in the squad in the role of a backup batter at random batting orders.

But the emergence of the Rohtak-born sensation Deepak Hooda deteriorated his chances and he got to play in only two matches for the team where he couldn’t impress the management with his performance. But still, there are fair chances that Chennai might pick him up during the mini-auction for the next season.

Saurabh Tiwari

The southpaw is playing consistently in the Indian T20 League. The 32-year-old has performed quite well while playing for a different team in respective seasons of the league.

Saurabh Tiwary has been a regular figure in the Indian Premier League. The 32-year-old has been a proven performer and has played many match-winning knocks in the world’s most lucrative cricket league. Saurabh Tiwary made his first appearance in the tournament during the inaugural edition for Mumbai Indians.

The Jharkhand batter has played 93 matches so far in the league and scored 1494 runs with an average of 28.73 having eight half-centuries in his account. Although, none of the franchises bought him during the mega auction for the 2022 edition of the league.

But speaking of Chennai, then they have the management which respects the experience, and keeping that in the back of the mind, they can go ahead to count on Saurabh for the next season of the league.

Karun Nair

Rajasthan was the team that extended its trust in the senior right-hander as they bought him during the mega auction for the 2022 chapter of the league. He was picked by the team to strengthen their batting in terms of the Indian batting nucleus. But he couldn’t get enough chances as the young lads Devudutt Padikkal and Yashaswi Jaiswal gave no chance to the management to make a change and include Karun Nair in the playing XI.

During the 2022 edition, he could get to play only three matches and scored 18 runs at a strike rate of 88.89. So, Rajasthan might release him ahead of the next season. On the other hand, Chennai could be a team that will go for picking him up in the squad to fill the vacant space left after the retirement of Robin Uthappa.

Talking about Nair’s career in the league, then he has appeared in 76 matches and scored 1496 at a strike rate of 127.75. Other than this he also performed very impressive in the domestic circuit of India.

Manish Pandey

The right-hander is playing in the Indian T20 League since the inception of the tournament 14 years back in the year 2008. Although, hasn’t had that many impressive performances on the given opportunities. He played his first match for Mumbai Indians against Kolkata.

Since then, Pandey has played 160 matches so far in the league with an average of 29.9 having a century and 21 half-centuries on his credit. Speaking of his performance in the 2022 edition of the Indian T20 League, then he could score only 88 runs in the six games at a low strike rate of 110 which was not impressive enough.

As Lucknow has already enough capable batters in the team so there are fair chances that they might release Manish Pandey ahead of the commencement of the 2023 edition of the Indian T20 League. In that scenario, Chennai might consider his experience of 160 matches in the league so far to replace Uthappa in the middle order.