Deepak Hooda cricket player: Harbhajan Singh, Irfan Pathan and others hail Punjab Kings batsman’s career-best IPL knock

Deepak Hooda: The right-hand batsman from Punjab Kings scored a whirlwind third half-century in the Indian Premier League.

During the fourth match of the ongoing 14th season of the Indian Premier League between Rajasthan Royals and Punjab Kings in Mumbai, Punjab Kings batsman Deepak Hooda scored a whirlwind third IPL half-century to amaze one and all.

Coming in to bat at No. 4 at the halfway mark, Hooda justified his promotion ahead of wicket-keeper batsman Nicholas Pooran by scoring a career-best 64 (28) with the help of four fours and six sixes.

Hooda, who had hit a half-century in Punjab’s last IPL 2020 match, seemed to have found a place in the Playing XI ahead of Mandeep Singh and Sarfaraz Khan due to the same reason.

Carrying on from where he’d left in the UAE, Hooda played some outrageous shots to make the opposition bowlers look clueless at the Wankhede Stadium. In addition to Hooda’s prowess with the bat in hand, what appeared to have caught Royals wanting was the unexpected nature of the knock.

Having played seven deliveries, Hooda smashed five sixes off his next seven deliveries to not let Kings feel veteran batsman Chris Gayle’s absence. It was in the 16th over when Hooda ran a single off Royals all-rounder Chris Morris to complete a 20-ball half-century.

Hooda, who recently missed the domestic season for Baroda due to controversial reasons, made the most of his first competitive innings since IPL 2020 by putting on display a freak show of batsmanship.

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