IND vs IRE: 'Spoke To Deepak Hooda About Getting 100 In IPL But He Got It For India': Irfan Pathan In Awe Of Promising Batter

Deepak Hooda, who struck a spectacular and record century for India in the last T20I match of the series to enable India to win by only four runs, was the lone player around whom the whole match was centred.

This was in spite of Tuesday’s thrilling climax to the high-scoring drama and Ireland’s stunning recovery that put India on the verge of victory in the 226-run chase in Dublin.

Irfan Pathan Amazed By Deepak Hooda’s Smashing Knock

Irfan Pathan, a well-known all-rounder for India, claimed to have discussed scoring a century with Hooda and that he was amazed by the Indian star’s achievement in Dublin. 

Moments after Hooda raised his bat to acknowledge the cheers of the Dublin crowd, Irfan revealed on Twitter that he had encouraged the batter to amass a hundred runs in the IPL, where he had previously played for Lucknow Super Giants.

Hooda excelled as a batter throughout the IPL 2022, but he took advantage of the chance offered to him in the Ireland series to establish a case for inclusion in India’s T20 World Cup roster. 

“During the IPL, Spoke to @HoodaOnFire abt getting 100 but even better for him to get the century for Team India! So so proud of this boy.” Irfan tweeted. 

During the IPL, Spoke to @HoodaOnFire abt getting ? but even better for him to get the century for Team India ??! So so proud of this boy ? pic.twitter.com/fh7BzgvOma

— Irfan Pathan (@IrfanPathan) June 28, 2022

In his career, Hooda has never started a cricket match, but he was asked to do so on Sunday in the first T20I encounter against Ireland alongside Ishan Kishan. Prior to hitting 104 against Ireland in the second game, he contributed a 29-ball 47 to India’s victory in the rain-delayed contest. 

I Like To Play Aggressively: Deepak Hooda

Hooda became the third player from India to achieve a hundred runs in T20 Internationals, joining Suresh Raina, KL Rahul, and Rohit Sharma. Hooda now has the greatest score against Ireland of any Indian hitter. 

“I am coming from a good IPL, I was trying to follow up the same performance here as well. I like playing aggressively. Batting up the order, I have the time, I try to play according to the situation,” he said in his statement at the post-match ceremony, when he was named Player of the Match and Player of the Series. 

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