Deepak Hooda was in the fray when he got selected in the Indian team that played 3 match T20 series against Sri Lanka, last year. The stand in captain Rohit Sharma led the team to a clean sweep against the depleted Islanders. Hooda on the other hand didn’t got the chance to play any of the match. He didn’t find his place in the T20 team that played in South Africa, but eventually selectors have called him back for Nihadas T20 trophy. With all the big guns rested he would be hopeful of getting his maiden game in bleed blue jersey. He’s allready seen as a potential all-rounder who may serve Indian cricket for long. You may like | Indian squad for Nihadas T20 trophy announced, 5 changes in the team.
Here are the 10 things that you may not know about Deepak Hooda
1. Haryana connection: Deepak Hooda was born in Rohtak and spend 14 years of his life in Haryana.
2. Born to a Kabaddi player: His father Jagbir Hooda was a kabaddi player and worked as sergeant at Indian Air Force.
3. Initial days: Deepak was tempted for cricket from a very young age. In an interview with sportskeeda he told ” I used to watch a bhaiyya(brother) in our locality go to practice every day and I too had an urge to accompany him there. One day, he was playing at a park nearby and I too joined him. I was playing well with the tennis ball so that is when I decided that I should perhaps take cricket seriously and thereafter started accompanying bhaiyya(brother) to the academy,”
4. Move to Boroda: His father being an Air Force sergeant was transferred to Baroda, Gujarat when Deepak was 14 years old.
5. Wanted to play for Delhi: A young Deepak Hooda was not comfortable in Gujarat having spend 14 years in North. He wanted to move to Delhi and play for their state team, but it wasn’t a possibility for his father to go back North again.
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6. A place in Indian Under 19 team: He played for the India Under-19 cricket team at the 2014 ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup. Hooda made an impact in the tournament, scoring 235 runs with two fifties and picking up 11 wickets, including a five-wicket haul.
6. Debut for Baroda: He is the second Baroda batsman to score a hundred at first class debut after Snehal Parikh in 2014/15 Ranji reason, which comes as a dream debut for any youngster. He also won Lala Amarnath Award for his all round performance in 2014/15 season Vijay Hazare trophy.
7. IPL Debut: In 2015, Rajasthan Royals bought Hooda for Rs. 40 lakhs. The youngster made a mark and scored 151 runs in 14 matches at a strike-rate of 158.94. He later joined Sunrisers Hyderabad in 2016 at whooping price of 4.2 crore rupees.
8. Inspiration: Deepak Hooda considers former English batsman Kevin Pietersen as his inspiration. He also idolizes Rahul Dravid and MS Dhoni.
9. Leading Baroda: In 2017/18 Ranji season, Hooda replaced Irfan Pathan as captain of Baroda across all three formats. He became the youngest captain for Baroda at the age of 22.
