"What a turnaround" - Irfan Pathan lauds Deepak Hooda after he makes it to India's T20 World Cup squad

Former cricketer Irfan Pathan lauded all-rounder Deepak Hooda after he was picked in India's T20 World Cup squad scheduled to take place in Australia later this year. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced a 15-member squad for the global marquee T20 competition on Monday, September 12.

Hooda, who has been in the scheme of things in the shortest format, got his first break in a world event. His former Baroda teammate and mentor Irfan Pathan was delighted with the announcement.

Pathan lauded all the players for getting the opportunity at the World Cup but reserved a special message for Hooda. Taking to his Twitter handle, the former all-rounder wrote:

“Congratulations to all the players who got selected to play the World Cup for team India. Huge Privilege . What a turn around for @HoodaOnFire this has been. Well done boy.”

Deepak Hooda managed to impress the national selectors in the last edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) where he batted with a lot of composure and intent for the Lucknow Super Giants. He scored 451 runs at a strike rate of over 135, including four half-centuries.

Since then, Hooda has been a regular part of the Indian T20I set-up and has already notched up quite a few notable performances.

Opening the innings for India for the first time, Hooda smashed a scintillating century against Ireland earlier this year. He also chipped in with some useful performances in the England series. However, due to some stiff competition and the team balance, he had to sit out for the majority of the Asia Cup 2022.

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India's squad for T20 World Cup

Squad: Rohit Sharma (C), KL Rahul (VC), Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Deepak Hooda, Rishabh Pant (WK), Dinesh Karthik (WK), Hardik Pandya, Ravichandran Ashwin, Yuzvendra Chahal, Axar Patel, Jasprit Bumrah, B Kumar, Harshal Patel, and Arshdeep Singh.

Standby players: Mohammed Shami, Shreyas Iyer, Deepak Chahar, Ravi Bishnoi.

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Irfan Pathan's role in Deepak Hooda's career

Deepak Hooda’s connection with Pathan dates back to around 12 years ago. Hooda, who was born in Haryana, shifted his base to Baroda as a 15-year-old and was mentored by the former Indian all-rounder ever since.

Hooda also got the backing of the former Indian pacer when he was reprimanded by the Baroda Cricket Association in the aftermath of a spat with Krunal Pandya.

When Hooda made his international debut in February this year, Irfan penned down an emotional message on social media. He stated that the youngster getting his India cap from Rahul Dravid took him to the day when he made his India debut.