Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy: Deepak Hooda accuses Krunal Pandya of abuse
India’s domestic cricket season is set to finally commence on January 10 with the T20 tournament, Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. As many as 38 teams will take part in the tournament with Baroda being one of the prominent teams over the years to participate. Baroda is in Elite Group C and will be facing Uttarakhand in their opening game on Sunday. However, the team is involved in a controversy with less than 24 hours to go for their first match of the season.
Deepak Hooda, one of the top players in the team, has withdrawn his name from the entire tournament at the last moment after allegedly having a heated argument with the skipper Krunal Pandya. Notably, Hooda was named the vice-captain of the team when the Baroda Cricket Association (BCA) had announced the 22-member squad last week.
It has been understood that Krunal Pandya and Deepak Hooda got involved in a heated argument while practising at the Reliance Stadium in Vadodara ahead of their game on Sunday. Hooda has claimed in a mail written to the BCA that Krunal abused him as well and also wrote in it that he will not be playing with the team in the upcoming T20 tournament.
The news has been reported by local news channel TV9 Gujarati as well. Meanwhile, it has also been understood that Krunal Pandya has threatened Hooda during the argument. Reportedly, Hooda was also under a lot of mental pressure. Baroda has announced a trimmed 17-man squad for Sunday’s game and Deepak Hooda is not a part of it.
Deepak Hooda has alleged Baroda captain Krunal Pandya of misbehaviour and abusive language.
Hooda has pulled out of Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy and already left the bio-bubble. (Sportstar)#Cricket pic.twitter.com/N83c4hzjSq
— Subhayan Chakraborty (@CricSubhayan) January 9, 2021
This comes as a huge blow for Baroda as the said cricketer is very much experienced having played in 46 FC, 68 List A and 123 T20 matches so far in his career. With no Yusuf Pathan also in the squad, an exclusion of yet another experienced player has put the Baroda team in the doldrums just before the start of the domestic season.
In the 2020 edition of T20 extravaganza, he played for the Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) in seven matches notching up an unbeaten 62 in the final league game for the team. The aforementioned incident is surprising for many as Deepak Hooda and Krunal Pandya were told to be very good team-mates and the main reason for their argument is yet not known.
