IPL 2018 auction: 5 potential biggest uncapped buys

#4 Deepak Hooda

Along with his explosiveness with the bat, Hooda is known for his accuracy with the ball

It's no secret that all-rounders are the most coveted in the IPL auctions. Deepak Hooda is an exciting prospect, with the added bonus of having been around in the IPL for three seasons now. He debuted for the Rajasthan Royals back in 2015, where he shone in the middle-order with cameos, racking up 151 runs in 14 games at an impressive strike rate of 158.94.

In just his second ever IPL match, he smashed 54 of 25 balls and bowled 0 for 20 in four overs. Along with his explosiveness with the bat, Hooda is known for his accuracy with the ball and his agility in the field.

His performance saw him bag a whopping INR 4.2 crores from the Sunrisers Hyderabad in the 2016 auction. He featured in every single game for the 'Biryani Army' en route the IPL title. Owing to a consistent opening partnership for the Sunrisers in the form of Warner and Dhawan, Hooda didn't get many chances to express himself with the bat.

Hooda has shown what he can do with the bat in other tournaments though. He scored a fantastic double century for Baroda in the previous edition of the Ranji Trophy. He was even given the honour of captaining Baroda this year, and though they didn't make it to the quarter-finals, Hooda impressed with 277 runs in four matches at an average of above 46. He also impressed while playing for India-A against New Zealand, having notched up a half-century in addition to an unbeaten 35.

His consistency and ability to pitch in with both bat and ball unsurprisingly earned him a spot in the Indian squad for the recently concluded T20 series against Sri Lanka. Unfortunately for him, Hooda didn't get the honour of donning Indian colours. This leaves the 22-year-old from Baroda uncapped for the upcoming IPL auction. With his IPL experience and all-round ability, Hooda is surely going to be one of the most sought-after uncapped players at the auction.