Vijay Dahiya, Lucknow Super Giants’ (LSG) assistant coach revealed how team mentor Gautam Gambhir played a crucial role in all-rounder Deepak Hooda’s success in IPL 2022.
Dahiya revealed that Gambhir had assured Hooda to give him an opportunity in all matches in the IPL 2022 and that the confidence shown by the LSG did magic for the all-rounder and he went on to finish the campaign as one of the standout performers of the season.
The 27-year-old used to play the finisher’s role previously, but he got the opportunity to bat in the middle-order for the LSG and scored 451 at an average of 32.21 in the IPL 2022.
Hooda’s IPL 15 show earned him an India call-up for the T20I series against South Africa, but he got the opportunity on the Ireland and England tour, and he made an immediate impact with the bat in the T20Is.
Vijay Dahiya told ESPNCricinfo: “Gauti told him, whatever happens, you will play all the games. Deepak was pleasantly surprised, because it’s the kind of backing he hadn’t got in the IPL.”
Hailing Hooda for his hunger for success, he said: “He’s a keen student of the game. He wants to get better every day. There is a purpose to his training, the hunger is immense. But sometimes, he could become too intense for someone who is keen to do well. He can be hard on himself at times.”
Dahiya also revealed that the LSG team management suggested Hooda not be too intense after a few failures as T20 cricket is an unforgiving format.
He signed off by saying, “The shorter formats can be unforgiving, so we had to speak to him a few times to let go and be less intense. The thing with such a mindset is, when things are going well, you aren’t going to find too many issues, but when things don’t come off, that is when it could get tricky. But he’ll learn, he has a tremendous work ethic, and it’s all part of his development as a player.”
