SHIMOGA:
They are not exactly the three musketeers and may not totally go by the ‘All for one, one for all’ motto, given that their being together is not always in their hands. But, like Arthos, Porthos and Aramis, their surnames too have similar twangs, in these cases ending with the letter ‘A’.
Meet Robin Uthappa, NC Aiyappa and KP Appanna, the Karnataka Ranji Trophy team’s Kodava representatives, who have in recent times taken the shade off, albeit only to an extent, from the ever popular Kodava sport, hockey.
Mobbed by fans in the ongoing match against Uttar Pradesh in Shimoga, Uthappa, the leader of the pack, was quite emotional when quizzed on this sudden Kodava influence in the game of cricket. “It is great to be in a team with three Kodavas, and going by the crowd here (in Shimoga), and their vocal support, I can only imagine what it would be like to play a match in Coorg,” Uthappa said.
This, however, is not the first such instance. In fact, as many as four Coorgs played in a one-day game for Karnataka, this same trio being joined by Shyam Ponnappa, who is now a junior selector. “Oh, that was fun too, and I remember being quite kicked about it,” said Uthappa.
The hard-hitting batsman,who was part of the Indian World T20 winning squad back in 2007, however, insisted that this was no indication that hockey is taking a backseat, a sentiment shared by Aiyappa. “I don’t thing that’s the case. Hockey is still in Kodava blood,” said Uthappa. “The thing is Kodavas pick up things fast, more so sport. In fact, I don’t know any Kodavawho hasn’t played a sport. Perhaps the difference now is that people see cricket offering a better career comparatively and so more kids are taking to it,” he added. “Hockey is still the national sport and a lot of people in Coorg still play it. But, yes, you can see a lot more kids play cricket there these days,” said pacer Aiyappa, who made a comeback this season.
And that’s not something that’s restricted to Coorg. The Punjab cricket team that was in Bangalore last week, featured as many as seven Singhs in the squad, leading a wag to remark that perhaps the hockey team had been sent by mistake. That doubt was soon cleared up when Punjab took the first innings honours over Karnataka in the drawn game.
Cricket is certainly the dominant sport now and the presence of Uthappa, Aiyappa and Appanna is telling proof. More power to the Kodavas.
source: http://www.articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / Home> Collections / by Satish Vishwanathan, TNN
