Deepak Hooda Returns to Baroda Cricket After Controversial Exit
Deepak Hooda is going back to where it all began.
Five years after a bitter fallout drove him out of Baroda cricket, the hard-hitting batter and batting allrounder is set to rejoin his home association, drawing a line under one of Indian domestic cricket’s most public dressing-room rifts.
“Yes, Deepak is coming back to Baroda. He and Krunal (Pandya) have spoken to each other. Everything is sorted between them,” Baroda Cricket Association (BCA) CEO Snehal Parikh told TOI on Thursday, confirming the reunion that once looked impossible.
From suspension and walkout to reconciliation
Hooda’s exit in early 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, alleging that then captain Krunal Pandya’s “bad behaviour”, abusive language and “bullying” had left him “depressed, demoralised and under pressure”.
The BCA responded firmly, banning him for the entire 2020-21 season on grounds of “indiscipline”. The relationship, at least publicly, seemed broken beyond repair.
Hooda moved quickly to restart his career elsewhere, signing up as a professional with Rajasthan for the 2021-22 domestic season. While Baroda tried to move on, one of their brightest modern batting products was suddenly wearing different colours.
Now, the same administration that once banned him insists the wounds have healed. Parikh underlined that all issues between Hooda and the association have been resolved, clearing the way for his return and signalling a truce with Krunal Pandya, the central figure in the original dispute.
A proven performer comes home
Baroda are not just getting back a familiar face. They are regaining a heavyweight performer in Indian domestic cricket.
At 31, Hooda’s first-class record stands out:
- 67 matches
- 4,267 runs at an average of 45.39
- 14 centuries, 18 half-centuries
- A highest score of 293*
With the ball, his off-spin has chipped in with 29 wickets at 41.44, including a best of 5 for 31.
In List A cricket, he has been just as influential:
- 109 matches
- 3,340 runs at 38.83
- Six centuries, 17 fifties
- Top score of 104
- 42 wickets at 29.92, best figures of 5 for 55
T20s have showcased his power game and versatility. Across 230 matches, Hooda has scored 3,972 runs at 24.67, with two centuries and a highest of 108, numbers that explain why he has remained on the radar of selectors and franchises alike.
His India career, while intermittent, has had its flashes. Hooda has played 10 ODIs, scoring 153 runs at 25.50 and taking three wickets at 39.66. In 21 T20Is, he has 368 runs at an average of 30.66 and six wickets at a strikingly economical 12.66. His last appearance for India came in a T20I against New Zealand on February 1, 2023.
For Baroda, a player with that pedigree walking back into the dressing room changes the shape of their batting and the tone of their ambitions.
Jitesh stays on, Munaf steps in
There is stability at the other end of Baroda’s white-ball plans. Wicketkeeper-batter Jitesh Sharma, a key figure in the shorter formats, will continue to represent Baroda as a guest player, but only in white-ball cricket, Parikh confirmed. That keeps a powerful middle-order and finishing option in place alongside Hooda.
Off the field, the BCA has moved to strengthen its pace-bowling pipeline. Former India fast bowler Munaf Patel has been appointed pace bowling coach and mentor at the BCA Academy in Vadodara. It is a significant appointment: a World Cup winner bringing his experience and craft to a new generation of quicks in the state.
Baroda now have a reconciled star in Hooda, a trusted finisher in Jitesh, and an international spearhead in Munaf guiding their young pacers. After years of turbulence and talent drain, the question is no longer about who left, but how far this rebuilt core can carry Baroda in the seasons to come.
