Birthday special: Deepak Hooda – The all-rounder living up to his potential
Deepak Hooda has been one of the unsung heroes of Indian cricket who is yet to achieve stardom at the highest level. However, he keeps on doing his job silently whenever he gets an opportunity. He is currently playing for the new franchise Lucknow Super Giants in IPL 2022 which had purchased him for INR 5.75 crore in the mega auction.
Hooda still has a long way to go with age on his side and has managed to be in the Indian team’s scheme of things in white-ball cricket. As the Rohtak all-rounder turns 27 on April 19, here’s all you need to know about the next big thing in Indian cricket.
Deepak Hooda: The promising talent
The Haryana cricketer has so far managed 170 runs from six matches at an average of 28.33 and a strike rate of 133.86 in the ongoing IPL 2022, including two half-centuries with his highest score being 55.
Hooda took interest in cricket since his school days. In fact, before achieving excellence as a batting all-rounder, he tried his luck in becoming a wicketkeeper-batter. It all started to take off for the ‘Hurricane’ in 2014 during his U19 days as he became only the second Baroda player after Snehal Parikh to score a century on his first-class debut.
His fortunes revived from 2015 onwards when he made his IPL debut for the Rajasthan Royals. While he could only manage 151 runs from 14, the Haryana cricketer impressed one and all with his amazing power-hitting abilities and his potential to play match-defining knocks at crucial junctures.
It is to be noted that since then, Hooda has never gone unsold at the IPL auctions and has always found takers each season. When it comes to the Indian Premier League, the Rohtak cricketer is a seasoned campaigner having represented teams likes of Rajasthan Royals, Sunrisers Hyderabad and Punjab Kings.
The promising all-rounder has so far donned the India jersey in two One Day Internationals and a solitary T20I, all of which happened in 2022. Now, by showcasing consistent performances in the ongoing IPL 2022, he would be looking forward to putting the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) selectors on notice as they start building the squad for the T20 World Cup later this year.
