‘Excited To See Him Play’: Robin Uthappa Wants This Indian Star To Become Hardik Pandya’s All-Round Partner

Former India player Robin Uthappa reckons that Ramandeep Singh is the perfect choice to become Hardik Pandya’s colleague as the all-rounder in the Indian team. Ramandeep had a brilliant IPL 2024 while playing for Kolkata Knight Riders and as a result, he got retained by the franchise ahead of the IPL 2025 mega auction.

Recently, the 27-year-old batter took part in the Emerging Asia Cup, where he battled very well. While talking to the Hindustan Times, Uthappa said, "I have seen him in the past, but you didn't really see the potential in the past but in KKR, he has really come out there and he's come into his own perhaps and he is oozing confidence. So you want someone like that when things are going well, confidence is going high, you want to blood them in. If you can blood someone like him then you get two all-rounders in the likes of him and Hardik Pandya, which is gold to Indian cricket at this point in time”.

"I would love for him to play. I think he is one of the most exciting prospects we have seen in the recent past. He is a handy all-rounder, his performances in the IPL has been second to none. As a finisher, he's played 62 balls, scored 125 runs, has fielded incredibly well, bowled when he is asked too. If you are striking at 200 and you are fielding as well as Ramandeep does and we have seen more of that when he played for India A in the recently-concluded series in Oman. So I am really excited to see him play," said Uthappa.

The Indian team is currently locking horns with South Africa in the second T20I match at the Saint George's Park Stadium. 

India (Playing XI): Sanju Samson(w), Abhishek Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav(c), Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya, Rinku Singh, Axar Patel, Arshdeep Singh, Ravi Bishnoi, Varun Chakaravarthy, Avesh Khan.

South Africa (Playing XI): Ryan Rickelton, Reeza Hendricks, Aiden Markram(c), Tristan Stubbs, Heinrich Klaasen(w), David Miller, Marco Jansen, Andile Simelane, Gerald Coetzee, Keshav Maharaj, Nqabayomzi Peter.