Uthappa was born in Kodagu in Karnataka, India. He received his education at Sri Bhagawan Mahaveer Jain College which comes under the umbrella of Jain University, Bangalore. At a very young age, he has shown the signs of fulfilling his potential.

Uthappa first came to the public's attention when he made 66 for India B against India A in the Challenger Trophy in 2005. The following year, in the same tournament, Uthappa made match-winning 93-ball 100 against the same team which propelled him in the big league. Previously, he had been a member of the India Under-19 team that won the Asia Cup. Once a wicket-keeper batsman, his List A batting average of near 40 with a strike rate of approximately 90 has made him regarded as something of a limited overs cricket specialist. Uthappa Helped Rohit sharma to score his highest score in his career, mostly giving majority of the strike to him. He is a gem of a player .

He was recalled to the ODI side in January 2007 for the series against the West Indies. He did not feature in the first two games. He scored a quick 70 in the third game followed by a quickfire 28 in the fourth game.

He was selected in the 15-member squad of the Indian team for the 2007 Cricket World Cup held in the West Indies in March–April 2007. He played in all three group games, but only scored 30 runs in total as India suffered a shock defeat to Bangladesh and a loss to Sri Lanka resulting in the team not qualifying for the Super 8 stage.

In the sixth ODI of the NatWest Series 2007–2008, he scored 47 off 33 balls to take India to a thrilling victory, keeping Indian hopes alive in the 7- match series which they were trailing 2–3 before the match. Used to batting as an opener, in this match he came in at the unfamiliar position of no 7. When he came at the crease India were 5 down for 234 after 40.2 overs, still needing 83 from less than 10 overs. After Dhoni got out in the 47th over with the Indian score at 29