IPL: A year after ugly spat, Deepak Hooda breaks silence on his relationship with LSG teammate Krunal Pandya

The Indian Premier League mega auction witnessed plenty of twists as Jos Buttler and R Ashwin ended up in the same team. Another interesting development that took place was Krunal Pandya and Deepak Hooda being roped in by Lucknow Super Giants. 

Both the players don't share a great history as Hooda had moved out of the Baroda bio-bubble a year ago following a spat with Krunal. The former had then accused Krunal of bullying and misbehaviour, when the unit had assembled for the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. Hooda had then also quit the team and joined hands with Rajasthan to play domestic cricket. (LSG vs DC Live Cricket Score, IPL 2022)

However, the duo have really been gelling up well in the Lucknow camp as they were seen hugging each other during the opener against Gujarat Titans. 

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Hooda in an interaction with Dainik Jagran opened up about the relation the two share.

“Krunal Pandya is like my brother, and brothers do fight. We are playing with one aim, which is to win games for LSG,” said Hooda.

Hooda scored a superb half-century against Sunrisers Hyderabad in the previous contest and is leading the batting charts in the Lucknow camp. 

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Speaking about his ambitions for the upcoming T20 World Cup, which is scheduled to be played in Australia later this year, the all-rounder said all he needs to do is keep performing and leave everything rest for the selectors to decide.

“Just like everyone even my dream is to represent India at World Cup, however, my job is deliver good performances and leave the rest for the selectors to decide.” 

“I'm an all-rounder and along with the bat, my target is to perform well with the ball too and I don't think anything else apart from this,” he said.