By: Tarish Bhatt
Virat Kohli, Ravindra Jadeja and Mohit Sharma – these are the few names that went on to appear for Team India after stamping their marks in the Indian Premier League. And, just like every year, this season as well, there are few names that are tipped as future stars of the Indian team.
The guy who is setting this year’s IPL on fire is Rajasthan Royals’ Deepak Hooda. Hooda, who plays for Baroda in the Ranji Trophy, in just four IPL outings has proved himself as a special talent.
Hooda is just 19-year-old and is very young on a first-class level as well, but the way he has batted for the Royals so far is just mind blowing. The youngster seems to have a good technique for both pacers and spinners, and he is only going to improve under Rahul Dravid in Rajasthan Royals.
The Rohtak-born against the Delhi Daredevils was at his dazzling best and took both Amit Mishra and Imran Tahir for the cleaners. He attacked Tahir in particular and there was no hiding for the South African, who was dispatched into the stands of the Feroz Shah Kotla.
Hooda was with Rajasthan in the last season as well but he didn’t get chance to play. He also told Dravid that he is been wasted by just warming the bench. But, the youngster surely would have got some wise words from the former India skipper and he continued working hard.
He had a good domestic season, scoring a couple of centuries and fifties and playing, and he averages just over 50. For someone as young as Hooda, who has just played eight first-class matches, these are pretty good numbers.
But, Hooda didn’t limit himself to just playing in whites, as he also sharpened his hitting prowess. This was quite evident when he launched himself in the first two games of the IPL hitting some mighty blows, that too, with perfection.
“I have improved my batting over the last two years since the U-19 World Cup,” Hooda said. “My role was to play aggressive shots in the pre-IPL camp. Ajinkya bhai was supporting me very well and asked me to play naturally and said that we would win like that.”
Hooda has impressed everyone with his batting, but he is also a handy off-spinner and the Rajasthan Royals are using him regularly now. The Royals skipper, Steve Smith also used Hooda in the powerplay against the Sunrisers Hyderabad and the youngster responded quite well.
In the first four games of the IPL, Hooda has cemented himself as a future superstar. The four games might be a very small time to judge anyone, but it is enough time to determine the fighting spirit.
“When challenges are thrown at him, he will be one of the first guys to put his hand up,” Bharat Arun said. “He would come up with his own ideas and there would be discussions. He used to work a lot on his yorkers; though he is an off spinner he bowls a pretty good yorker.”
Hopefully, this young talent will be nurtured by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), just like the board did with Kohli, Jadeja and others.
