Leaving the state team at the edge of 100 first-class matches is never easy, especially when it comes at a cost of misunderstanding. It happened with former Robin Uthappa when he left Karnataka, his home team, after playing 99 first-class matches, owing to a clash with his teammate Karun Nair. The clash happened during the 2016-17 Ranji season when Karnataka was about to face Mumbai at Mumbai. Robbie wasn't selected in the elevendespite performing, and out of general frustration, he said some words that he believed were twisted and conveyed to Karun. Robbie, in a conversation, then generalized the Test cap, saying anybody can get it. Karun, meanwhile, was about to get his maiden Test call, and the distorted version did not settle well with Karun, which eventually led to the departure of the 2007 T20 World Cup winner. Robin Uthappa, 39, recently attended a podcast with the First Umpire YouTube channel, where he clarified his point of view on what exactly happened. Robbie said, “At that point, I was trying to get into the Test team. I was frustrated because, despite performing well, I wasn’t even being considered. Maybe all of those emotions came out in the conversation. I said in the interview that Test caps were being given away too easily and that some people really needed to earn them rather than just being given them freely.” He added, “Someone from our team took that piece of the interview and told Karun Nair that I had said it about him. Karun Nair, who was like a younger brother, alienated me at that time because he was close to getting a Test cap. He didn’t check with me and believed it. A few days later, some infighting started. When the interview came out, since it was in Bombay, and Bombay loves to dominate domestic cricket, the media there even portrayed it in a way that could be perceived as if I was talking about Karun. Karun believed it and distanced himself from me.” Read also: Robin Uthappa Refused MI-to-RCB Transfer in IPL 2009 Opposition lobby in the the team behind Uthappa's exit Robin Uthappa felt that the team was forming clusters, against him. He even urged the boys to come forward, but none did. Robbie's performance went down. Robbie said, “I told them if anyone thought I was breaking the team, they should raise their hand and I would quit immediately. Nobody raised a hand, but I knew then there was an organised attack because I had become the players’ voice." He asked, "So after that incident, I tried to give everything. Genuinely and consciously I tried to give everything, but it didn’t come. And performances also didn’t come after that because that emotional tag of mine was broken." Robin Uthappa decided to leave the side after a year and half when he came to know that he would be playing his 100th first-class game. Robbie stated, "One and a half years later I came to know that that match against Andhra in Punjab would have been my 100th first-class game for Karnataka. So I finished my first-class career in Karnataka, and finished my first-class career with playing only 99 first-class matches for Karnataka." The 39-year-old Uthappa has called time on his career, finishing with 142 first-class matches and more than 9,400 runs at an average of 40.71, though he never played for the national team.