3 reasons why LSG should drop Deepak Hooda
The Lucknow Supergiants play their next game against the Punjab Kings on the latter's home turf on Friday, almost a week after their last game. The game was one that LSG will hope to erase from their memory as soon as possible because they lost a game they should have won without breaking a sweat.
The one-week gap might be good for LSG, as they will have ample time to reflect on what possibly went wrong against the Titans. They are quite well placed in the standings, but the previous game proved that they have a lot of work to do.
Deepak Hooda's form is one of their biggest headaches. He hasn't put in the performances that LSG would have liked, and it would be good for them if he was dropped for the next game.
A forgettable first half for Deepak Hooda in IPL 2023.
📸: IPL/BCCI https://t.co/xGBGWhLY4x
Here, we look at three reasons why Deepak Hooda should be dropped for LSG's next game against the Punjab Kings:
#1 Lack of performances
Thanks to his performances in IPL 2022, Deepak Hooda earned a national team call-up and even delivered some good performances for India. He was expected to shoulder the responsibility of LSG's middle order in IPL 2023, but his batting hasn't been convincing.
Hooda has scored only 41 runs in seven games this season at a disappointing strike rate of 80.39. His showings are worrisome, especially with the tournament at the midway stage now. It would be better to drop him now and allow someone else to fit into the role.
#2 LSG's recent batting troubles
While LSG are well placed in third place on the points table, they do have a few issues, one of which is their unstable batting. KL Rahul's strike rate has been extremely underwhelming; Marcus Stoinis hasn't fired yet; and the others haven't been consistent.
On top of that, the line-up bottled an easy run-chase in LSG's previous game against the Gujarat Titans, which means that they are not one that can be trusted.
As such, the presence of an out-of-sorts player will not do the team any good.
#3 Deepak Hooda's overall IPL numbers
It's not like Deepak Hooda has set the IPL on fire, and so LSG should take the tough call. His overall numbers in the IPL are quite disappointing, as he has a poor average of 18.78 in 102 games, which is a massive sample size.
So if KL Rahul and company do decide to leave him out, they won't be missing out on someone who's dominated the league.
Yes, the potential is there, but that has to be translated into performances, which hasn't happened in Hooda's case.