Senior cricketer Deepak Hooda has been suspended by the Baroda Cricket Association (BCA) for the current domestic season. The apex council took the decision on Thursday (January 21).
Recently, Hooda was in the news when he walked out of the team on the night before the beginning of Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy (SMAT) 2021 after a spat with skipper Krunal Pandya.
Now, Hooda can not participate in the ongoing SMAT as well as any upcoming domestic competition in the season. He will now be eligible to play for Baroda for the 2021-22 season.
“The apex council decided that Hooda won’t be considered to represent the Baroda team for the current domestic season. The decision was taken after considering reports from team manager and coach about the incident as well as communication with Hooda,” said Satyajit Gaekwad, chairman, BCA press and publicity committee as quoted by Cricbuzz.
BCA joint secretary Parag Patel felt that Hooda did wrong by walking out of the team and not speaking about the same with the management. However, Patel also reckoned that banning Hooda for the entire season was needless.
“Hooda did the wrong thing by walking out of the team without discussing his issues with the management. But banning him for the entire season was unnecessary. He could have been reprimanded for his act and then allowed to play,” said Patel.
Earlier, Hooda, who has played 46 first-class and 123 T20s for Baroda, wrote a letter to BCA claiming that Krunal used abusive language and stopped him from practising ‘showing his Dadagiri’.
“I am demoralised, depressed and under pressure. As from last some days and at least from a previous couple of days, my team captain Mr Krunal Pandiya is using abusive language to me in front of my teammates and also other states teams who have come for participation at Reliance Stadium Vadodara,” Hooda had written in the letter.
“Today, I was practising in nets and doing my preparation for tomorrow’s game with the permission of Head Coach Mr Prabhkar. Then Krunal came in nets started misbehaving with me. I told him that I’m doing my preparation with the permission of the head coach. He told me that ‘I’m the captain, who is the head coach? I am the overall of the Baroda team. Then he stopped my practice showing his Dadagiri,” he had added.
