Irfan Pathan congratulates Deepak Hooda on maiden national call-up; 'You kept fighting'

Former Indian pace-bowling all-rounder Irfan Pathan heaped praises on Deepak Hooda after the latter broke into Team India's ODI squad for the three-match series against West Indies. Hooda made his debut in domestic cricket back in 2013 while representing Baroda and has also plied his trade for various franchises in the Indian Premier League (IPL).  

But a place in the national team continued to elude him. Prior to the ongoing domestic season, Hooda bid adieu to Baroda and joined Rajasthan. In the previous edition of the Vijay Hazare Trophy, he scored 198 runs from six matches at an average of 33 with a top score of 109 against Karnataka in Jaipur.

Pathan lauded Hooda for encountering a tough face in his career and making it through to the highest level. Pathan, who's currently a part of the India Maharajas in the Legends League Cricket (LLC), also had words of praises for Ravi Bishnoi and Avesh Khan.

Even as Hooda has only been picked for the ODIs, Bishnoi and Khan found their way in both the ODI and T20I squads, Bishnoi and Hooda have played together for the Punjab Kings (PBKS) in the IPL. Khan, on the other hand, was one of the leading wicket-takers for the Delhi Capitals (DC) in IPL 2021.

Pathan took to Twitter and wrote, "You came out of a tough phase, you kept fighting, kept performing. So proud @HoodaOnFire. congratulations Partying face Make the most of it. Congratulations to Ravi Bishnoi and Avesh khan too. #INDvWI."

In the meantime, Rohit Sharma has made his comeback for the series after missing a few games due to a hamstring injury. The ODI series is scheduled to start on Sunday, February 6 followed by the T20I series, starting Wednesday, February 16.

India vs West Indies: India ODI squad

Rohit Sharma (C), KL Rahul (VC), Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Shreyas Iyer, Deepak Hooda, Rishabh Pant (WK), Deepak Chahar, Shardul Thakur, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Washington Sundar, Ravi Bishnoi, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Avesh Khan

India vs West Indies: India T20I squad

Rohit Sharma (C), KL Rahul (VC), Ishan Kishan (WK), Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Surya Kumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant (WK), Venkatesh Iyer, Deepak Chahar, Shardul Thakur, Ravi Bishnoi, Axar Patel, Yuzvendra Chahal, Washington Sundar, Mohammed Siraj, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Avesh Khan, Harshal Patel

Image: Instagram/Irfanpathan_official/ Deepakhooda30