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Hooda’s skills and flexibility perfect to bind India
His audacious shot-making as a batter apart, his all-round skills will fit the team’s needs more
Deepak Hooda, 27, will be playing his first World Cup. He isn’t a late bloomer or a rising star. A decade of domestic cricket and eight IPLs later, he’s experienced enough turbulence to recognise the value of this opportunity.
His spat with Baroda captain Krunal Pandya last year and the subsequent suspension had set him back. That was then. In 2022, combining with Krunal for Lucknow Super Giants (LSG), he played a crucial part in the new IPL team coming within touching distance of the final. Gautam Gambhir-mentored LSG can take some credit not only in helping Hooda regain focus and look beyond ego wars, but also in bringing his multi-utility aspects to the fore. It’s as much for his all-round skills as his dynamic batting that Hooda has secured a ticket to Australia for the T20 World Cup in October-November.
“I think he started peaking after the IPL,” said Vijay Dahiya, assistant coach, LSG. “There was never any doubt about his shots and his skills. It’s about doing it consistently. This format is so fickle, it’s very necessary that you get that feeling of being backed by the team. It happened at the IPL and we are seeing that with the Indian team.”
Lucknow’s auction strategy was focused on snapping up as many multi-skilled cricketers as they could to lend depth to their batting. Hooda met the requirements perfectly and they went chasing him, handing him his highest pay cheque of ₹5.75 crore. Fresh from winning an India cap, as many as six of the 10 franchises went for him on the auction table.
Hooda is your archetypal T20 player who can bat aggressively at any position and roll his arm over to bowl off-breaks with some control. With none of the leading Indian batters able to bowl and Ravindra Jadeja injured, Hooda’s bowling can be useful. Besides, Hooda’s spin could serve as an ideal foil to Yuzvendra Chahal.
“I think India will have to play him. We struggled a lot in the last World Cup and this Asia Cup in the absence of a sixth bowler,” Irfan Pathan, who plays a mentoring role in Hooda’s career, told Star Sports. “The only thing is when you play Hooda, you will have to drop the left-hander from the playing eleven.” The player Irfan was referring to is Rishabh Pant. Axar Patel is the only other all-round option India has, but he isn’t trusted enough to bat in the top seven.
Rohit Sharma didn’t show the same confidence in Hooda’s off-spin in the Asia Cup that Shikhar Dhawan as captain did in the ODI series against West Indies where he was also given the new ball. Hooda may want to use the upcoming six T20Is at home before the World Cup to impress the skipper. But he could also strive to ace the role of a finisher in equal measure.
Hooda did most of his batting for Lucknow (451 runs, SR 136.67) at No 3, 4 and 5. Before that in the Mushtaq Ali Trophy T20 tournament playing for his new team Rajasthan, his 294 runs (SR 148.44-four 50s) came at No 4. His overall IPL numbers batting at No 6 are also good–376 runs (SR 141.89).If he can make the challenging No 6-7 position his own with some enterprising batting, it could also allow India to play Pant more regularly in place of Dinesh Karthik. “In any case after the top 3, it all depends on the match situation and match-ups in T20. Adaptability is one of Hooda’s strong points,” said Dahiya.
The beauty of being a flexible batter like Hooda is that should an opportunity present itself in the top order at the World Cup, he’s well suited to it take up. His maiden T20I hundred against Ireland, off 55 balls, came batting at No 3.
He can play the audacious shots too; like the ramp he recently played, over the wicket-keeper, bent fully back with ease against the fiery Mohammad Hasnain. Hooda comes closest to matching Suryakumar Yadav’s pyrotechnics and in playing unconventional shots that carry a high level of difficulty. While his swiftness in using the feet against spin and his improved off-side play may have contributed to his scores, it’s the ability to score in the reverse V that underlines his utility as a modern T20 batter. Hooda in his current avatar epitomises that.
“He’s a player of confidence right now. I could see that zidd (desire to achieve) while working with him,” said Dahiya.
