Punjab Kings captain KL Rahul was stunned by the fast-furious innings by Deepak Hooda who came to bat at number 4 against the Rajasthan Royals in their opening match.
Rahul, himself made 91 runs off 50 balls, breathed a sigh of relief when opposition captain Sanju Samson’s 119 runs failed to get RR past the finish line.
“Deepak Hooda’s innings was amazing. That’s the kind of batting we want to see as a team. We want to bat fearlessly and takedown bowlers. We have a lot of power in our line-up but we have been slightly tentative. It is important for us to bat fearlessly. It is great to see boys trying to understand what we expect,” said Rahul after the match. Hooda made 64 off 28 balls, his knock helping the team put up a big 221-run total.
He said his batsmen need to pull up their shocks and bat fearlessly like Deepak Hooda did yesterday.
“Heart rate was high but I didn’t stop believing. We knew a couple of wickets would bring us back. Till the first 10-11 overs, we bowled well. It was close because we dropped a few sitters, including me. We batted really well and bowled well in patches. We weren’t consistent with the lengths but the bowlers will learn,” he added.
“It’s a young team, some new boys, the boys are talented and skillful, so we need to back them.”
Rahul also praised Sanju’s innings and said it’s always hard to bowl against him.
“When you’re bowling against Sanju, it’s difficult,” he added.
