Deepak Hooda scored only 7 runs against SRH but hit one of the best shots of the game.
Deepak Hooda could manage only 7 runs in eight balls against Sunrisers Hyderabad in the 10th match of IPL 2023. Bhuvneshwar Kumar took a stunner off his own bowling to send him back. However, Hooda hit an elegant six before getting out.
Deepak Hooda played the shot of the match on just his third ball of the innings. Bhuvneshwar bowled a fuller-length delivery on the outside off-stump line. Hooda just stepped out and lofted the ball over the bowler’s head for a maximum.
— A (@cricketvf) April 7, 2023
Hooda presented the full face of the bat and used the pace of the ball. His head position was very still as he completed his follow-through. The six was 91 m long and fell near the sightscreen.
This shot was terrific in several ways. The pitch was playing very slowly, and the ball was keeping low too. Hence, the ball was not going to hit the willow at the pace required to play that shot. Bhuvneshwar Kumar is not among the fastest pacers either.
Hooda had to impart extra power and make sure to time it perfectly. And he managed to do exactly that on a sluggish pitch. Hooda, in fact, made it look very easy in the end.
The 27-years old loves playing this shot and often tries executing it against the pacers. In the past couple of years, he has hit a few boundaries with this shot. However, Hooda again tried playing the same shot on the last ball of the same over. But he couldn’t time it well because Bhuvneshwar cut the pace and bowled a leg-cutter. Bhuvenshwar took a terrific catch to remove Hooda. Some quality cricket was on show in the last powerplay over in an otherwise dull match on a tedious deck.
