The doors that once slammed shut on Deepak Hooda in Baroda have swung open again. Five years after an acrimonious exit and a public fallout with then captain Krunal Pandya, the hard-hitting batter and allrounder is heading back to the team where his domestic journey took shape.
Baroda Cricket Association CEO Snehal Parikh confirmed the return and, more importantly, the reconciliation. “Yes, Deepak is coming back to Baroda. He and Krunal have spoken to each other. Everything is sorted between them,” Parikh said, drawing a line under one of Indian domestic cricket’s more talked-about dressing-room bust-ups.
From suspension to second chance
Hooda’s departure in 2021 was anything but quiet. On the eve of Baroda’s first match of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy in January that year, he walked out of the team hotel, accusing Krunal Pandya of “bad behaviour”, abusive language and “bullying” that left him “depressed, demoralised and under pressure”.
The BCA responded by banning him for the entire 2020-21 season for “indiscipline”. Hooda then shifted to Rajasthan as a professional for the 2021-22 domestic season, rebuilding his career away from the city that had nurtured him.
Now, Parikh insists “all issues between BCA and Hooda have been sorted”. The truce brings back to Baroda a proven run-machine at the peak of his domestic powers.
A heavyweight record returns to Vadodara
At 31, Hooda brings with him numbers that would strengthen any state side. In 67 first-class matches, he has piled up 4,267 runs at an impressive average of 45.39, with 14 centuries and 18 half-centuries. His highest score, a marathon 293 not out, underlines his ability to play long, match-shaping innings. With the ball, he has chipped in with 29 wickets at 41.44, including a best of 5 for 31.
In List A cricket, his output remains robust: 3,340 runs in 109 matches at 38.83, with six centuries and 17 fifties, and a top score of 104. His off-spin has produced 42 wickets at 29.92, with a best of 5 for 55.
T20s have showcased the other side of his game – power and range. Across 230 matches, Hooda has scored 3,972 runs at 24.67, including two centuries, with a highest of 108. Those numbers, coupled with his fielding and utility overs, make him a prized asset in the shortest format.
His India stint has been intermittent but impactful in patches: 10 ODIs for 153 runs at 25.50 and three wickets at 39.66, and 21 T20Is for 368 runs at 30.66, along with six wickets at a remarkable 12.66. He last featured for India in a T20I against New Zealand on February 1, 2023, and will know that a strong domestic season with Baroda could nudge the selectors again.
New roles, familiar faces
While Hooda returns as a home player, Baroda will continue to lean on another white-ball specialist from outside. Parikh confirmed that keeper-batter Jitesh Sharma will stay on as a guest player, but only in the limited-overs formats. With Hooda’s middle-order muscle and Jitesh’s finishing ability, Baroda’s white-ball line-up suddenly looks far more dangerous on paper.
Off the field, the association has moved to strengthen its pace-bowling ecosystem. Former India fast bowler Munaf Patel has been appointed pace bowling coach and mentor at the BCA Academy in Vadodara. A World Cup winner with India and a seasoned domestic campaigner, Munaf’s presence offers Baroda’s young quicks a direct line to top-level experience.
A once-fractured dressing room now prepares to welcome back a senior pro who left in anger and returns in form. If Hooda’s bat speaks as loudly as his exit once did, Baroda’s season could take on a very different tone.
