He seems to have got the upper hand in the race for No 3 batting spot at Chennai Super Kings.
All-rounder Deepak Hooda might have just settled the debate for the number three batters’ spot at Chennai Super Kings (CSK) ahead of the Indian Premier League’s (IPL) 2025 season. The former Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) star was acquired by Chennai Super Kings for Rs 1.7 crore. Rahul Tripathi, another contender for the No 3 spot at CSK, was bought by the franchise for Rs 3.40 crore. This makes Deepak Hooda in a one-off battle with Rahul Tripathi for the No 3 batting spot.
However, Rahul Tripathi’s hopes of sealing that No 3 batting position at the five-time champions have taken a hit. This comes after he recently endured consecutive ducks in the DY Patil T20 tournament in Navi Mumbai. Rahul plays for and captains the BPCL team in the DY Patil T20 tournament. On Monday, the 33-year-old was dismissed for a golden duck by Shashank Singh during a game against DY Patil Blue. And against the Income Tax team on Tuesday, Tripathi failed to score once again as he was dismissed for a two-ball duck by Pankaj Jaiswal.
During his cricketing career, Deepak Hooda has batted in several positions including as an opener, No 4, No 5 and No 6. However, the No 3 spot is somewhere he particularly excels at. One instance is that when he batted at No 3 in a T20I against Ireland in June 2022 and scored a century (104). Overall too in T20Is, the 29-year-old has a pretty decent record while batting at No 3, with 196 runs from four matches at an average of 49.
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Rahul Tripathi, on the other hand, has played five T20Is for India and all five of those came in early 2023 at a time when senior players were rested. He batted at the No 3 spot in all five T20Is (Two vs Sri Lanka and three vs New Zealand) and managed to score 97 runs at an average of 19.40.
Tripathi, though, has more experience of batting in the No 3 position in the IPL. He has played 46 matches in IPL as a No 3 batter and scored 1245 runs, whereas Hooda has batted in that spot in just 15 innings and scored just 215 runs. However, Deepak Hooda is more versatile and given that he can bat anywhere, the No 3 spot shouldn’t be a problem for him.
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