Deepak Hooda scored his maiden T20 century against Ireland in the second and final match of the series at The Village, Dublin on Tuesday. Hooda, who opened the innings in the first T20I, came out to bat at No. 3 on Tuesday, but he batted with the same approach or even better to set the foundation for a massive total for India.
Hooda reached his century in 55 balls, during which he smashed Irish bowlers around the park. He played some stunning pull shots to mesmerize the fans inside the stadium. The 27-year-old became the fourth batsman to score a century India In the shortest format of the game. Earlier, Rohit Sharma has four T20I hundreds to his name, followed by his white-ball deputy KL Rahul, who has reached the milestone twice. Whereas Suresh Raina was the first Indian player to score a T20I century in 2009.
India vs Ireland 2nd T20I Live Score & Updates
India lost the big wicket of Ishan Kishan in the early hours of Tuesday as the in-form opener was dismissed for 3 by Mark Adair. It seemed that Hooda continued to bat in the first T20I from where he had stayed as he did not take much time to play his shots on the Irish bowlers.
The 27-year-old shared a massive 176-run stand for the second wicket with Sanju Samson, who made a big impression on his return to the Indian team with a scintillating 77-run stand. The duo did not let the Irish bowlers in the middle and formed the highest partnership for India in T20Is.
Read also | IRE vs IND: Hardik Pandya reveals, Sanju Samson is playing crowd. watch
Hooda had a stellar IPL season where he scored 451 runs for Lucknow Super Giants. Despite his consistent performances in the IPL, Hooda failed to get a chance in the XI for the South Africa T20Is. However, Shreyas Iyer and Rishabh Pant joined the Indian Test squad, paving the way for Hooda to make it to the playing XI on the tour of Ireland. He was asked to open the batting in the first T20I after Ruturaj Gaikwad was injured. Opening the innings for the first time in T20 cricket, Hooda scored an unbeaten 47 to help India win by 7 wickets.
Meanwhile, on Tuesday, Hooda smashed 104 off 55 balls, including 9 fours and 6 sixes, as he built a strong case for himself for the upcoming T20I. World Cup Squad.
Once Hooda was dismissed for a team score of 212, Surya Kumar Yadav (15) and captain Hardik Pandya (13 not out) tried to accelerate the scoring but were unsuccessful as India posted just 14 runs in the last two overs. In addition to losing three wickets.
Get all the latest updates cricket news, cricket pictures, cricket videos And cricket score Here