Deepak Hooda

Nicknamed “Hurricane” for his explosive batting and the ability to change the game on its head, Deepak Hooda is an all-rounder who played for the Baroda cricket team and the Punjab Kings. He was India’s go-to man for the ICC U-19 World Cup in 2014, and in the same year, Hooda became the second Baroda player after Snehal Parik to score a century on first-class debut. 

His reputation as a big hitter caught the eyes of the IPL franchises and it was in the year 2015 when the power hitter made his debut for Rajasthan Royals. His big-hitting abilities were clearly visible in that IPL season where he amassed 151 runs in 14 matches at a strike rate of 158.94.

The following year, he was fetched by Sunrisers Hyderabad for a whopping price of INR 4.2 crores, which was 42 times his base price of Rs 10 lakh.

In the same year, the all-rounder scored his first-ever double-century in first-class cricket playing for Baroda in the 2016-17 Ranji Trophy season.

After some impressive performances in the domestic circuit, the destructive batter received his maiden international T20I call-up to face the visiting Sri Lankan team, however, he did not feature in any of the matches.

In January 2018, Hooda was retained by Sunrisers Hyderabad but was released after a string of poor performances in the next two editions of the cash-rich league.

However, he continued to perform heavily in the domestic circuit for Baroda and is one of the most consistent performers for them over the past few seasons.

Just before the 2020 IPL auction, the pinch hitter was released by Sunrisers and this time around the Punjab Kings came calling for him and was sold to them for INR 50 lakhs.

Hooda was a subject of controversy just before the start of the 2021 Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, as he stepped out of the bio-bubble and had a spat with Baroda skipper, Krunal Pandya. Hooda made serious allegations against Pandya as he felt that the skipper disrespected him and abused him in front of his teammates.

The incident led to Baroda suspending Hooda for the entire 2020-21 domestic season.

In January 2022, Hooda was named in the home ODI series against West Indies where he made his 50-over format debut. Since then, he has been in and out from the Playing XI in the white ball formats. He smashed a century against Ireland in 2022 and enforced amendments in the record books by notching up the highest 2nd wicket stand (176 runs) in Men's T20Is with Sanju Samson. The handy all-rounder was also a part of the 2022 ICC T20 Men's T20 World Cup. 

Hooda is currently a part of the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) after the franchise pocketed him for INR 5.75 crores in 2022.

(As of February 2023)