Deepak Hooda becomes 4th Indian batsman to achieve massive feat

(FASTNEWS | INDIA) – Deepak Hooda slammed his maiden T20I century on Tuesday against Ireland in the second and final match of the series at The Village, Dublin.

Hooda, who opened the innings in the first T20I, came out to bat at number 3, on Tuesday, but he batted with the same approach or even better to set up the foundation for a massive total for India. Hooda reached his century off 55 balls during which he smacked the Irish bowlers all around the park.

He played some astonishing pull shots to enthrall the fans inside the stadium. The 27-year-old became the fourth batsman to smash a century for India in the shortest format of the game.

Earlier, Rohit Sharma has four T20I centuries under his kitty followed by his white-ball deputy KL Rahul who reached the mark twice. While Suresh Raina was the first Indian player to hit a T20I century way back in 2009.

India lost the big wicket of Ishan Kishan early on Tuesday as the in-form opener was dismissed on 3 by Mark Adair. It seemed like Hooda continued the batting from where he stopped in the first T20I as he didn’t take much time to play his shots on the Irish bowlers.

The 27-year-old shared the massive 176-run stand for the second wicket with Sanju Samson who also left a big impression with a 77-run knock on his comeback to the Indian side. The duo didn’t let the Irish bowlers settle in the middle and shared the highest partnership for India in T20Is.

Hooda had an outstanding IPL season where he scored 451 runs for Lucknow Super Giants. Despite his consistent show in IPL, Hooda failed to get a chance in the XI for the South Africa T20Is.

However, Shreyas Iyer and Rishabh Pant joined the Indian Test team which made way for Hooda to find a place in the playing XI on Ireland tour. He was asked to open the batting in the first T20I after Ruturaj Gaikwad sustained a niggle.

Opening the innings for the first time in T20 cricket, Hooda scored unbeaten 47 runs to help India register a clinical 7-wicket win.

Meanwhile, on Tuesday, Hooda scored 104 runs off 55 balls which was laced with 9 fours and 6 sixes as he made a strong case for himself for the upcoming T20 World Cup squad.

Once Hooda departed at the team score of 212, Surya Kumar Yadav (15) and skipper Hardik Pandya (13 not out) tried to accelerate the scoring, but failed as India lost three wickets for the addition of just 14 runs in the last two overs.