Deepak Hooda Returns to Baroda Cricket: A New Chapter

Deepak Hooda is going back to where it all began. Five years after a stormy exit that shook Baroda cricket, the hard-hitting batter and batting allrounder is set to return to his home team, with old wounds finally stitched up behind closed doors.

Baroda Cricket Association (BCA) CEO Snehal Parikh confirmed the move, and the key detail was not the contract, but the conversation. Hooda and former Baroda captain Krunal Pandya – once at the centre of an ugly fallout – have spoken. “Everything is sorted between them,” Parikh said, underlining that the truce is real and the door, once slammed shut, is now open again.

From Walkout to Reconciliation

Back in January 2021, on the eve of Baroda’s first match in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, Hooda walked out of the team hotel. It wasn’t a quiet departure. He alleged that Krunal Pandya’s “bad behaviour”, abusive language and “bullying” had left him “depressed, demoralised and under pressure”.

The BCA hit back hard. Hooda was banned for the entire 2020-21 domestic season for “indiscipline”, a punishment that pushed him out of Baroda and into Rajasthan’s fold as a professional for the 2021-22 season. For a player who had grown through Baroda’s system, it felt like a complete severing of ties.

Now, Parikh insists “all issues between BCA and Hooda” have been resolved. No public drama, no fresh accusations. Just a quiet reset and a significant homecoming for a 31-year-old still in the thick of his career.

A Proven Performer Returns

Baroda are not just getting a familiar face back; they’re getting serious numbers.

• In 67 first-class matches, Hooda has piled up 4,267 runs at an average of 45.39, with 14 centuries and 18 half-centuries. His highest score, an unbeaten 293, underlines the kind of long-haul temperament that domestic teams crave in the middle order. With the ball, he has chipped in with 29 wickets at 41.44, including a best of 5 for 31 – handy support as a genuine batting allrounder.
• In List A cricket, he has 3,340 runs from 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 best figures of 5 for 55.
• T20s have showcased his power game. Across 230 matches, Hooda has scored 3,972 runs at 24.67, with two centuries and a highest of 108. Those numbers, spread over formats and roles, explain why domestic sides value his flexibility as much as his aggression.
• For India, he has featured in 10 ODIs, scoring 153 runs at 25.50 and taking three wickets at 39.66, and 21 T20Is, where he has 368 runs at 30.66 and six wickets at a remarkable 12.66. His last appearance for the national side came in a T20I against New Zealand on February 1, 2023. A strong homecoming season could easily push his name back into national conversations.

Baroda’s White-Ball Core and a New Mentor

While Hooda returns to anchor the side across formats, Baroda will retain another key white-ball piece. Wicketkeeper-batter Jitesh Sharma will continue to represent Baroda as a guest player, but only in the limited-overs formats, Parikh confirmed. That keeps intact a dangerous core for Syed Mushtaq Ali and Vijay Hazare campaigns: power, depth, and now, familiarity.

There’s change in the backroom too. Former India pacer Munaf Patel has been appointed pace bowling coach and mentor at the BCA Academy in Vadodara. A World Cup winner with deep knowledge of Indian domestic conditions, Munaf’s role at the academy is designed to shape the next crop of fast bowlers coming through Baroda’s system.

So Baroda head into the new season with an old son returning, a former captain reconciled, a proven finisher staying on in white-ball cricket, and an experienced international quick guiding their young pacers. For a team that has lived through public conflict and internal fractures, the question now is simple: can this reset turn peace off the field into trophies on it?