"He used to bat 2-3 years in the practice session" - When Gautam Gambhir hailed an Indian batter's hunger for training

Current Team India head coach Gautam Gambhir had previously served as a mentor for the Indian Premier League (IPL) franchises Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and Lucknow Super Giants (LSG). During these stints, he got a chance to closely observe the training methods of several players from different parts of the country and also overseas cricketers.

During his stint with the Lucknow franchise, he was particularly impressed with aggressive batter Deepak Hooda's hunger for working hard in the nets. Gambhir had commented that it was very hard to get the right-handed batter out of the nets as he was keen on batting for long periods.

Speaking to Star Sports during an interaction in January 2023, Gambhir praised Hooda's appetite to train hard and commented:

"His work ethic impressed me the most. He just wants to bat, bat and bat. There were so many times when all the other coaches would say that he just bats too much. That's what I used to do as well. You can't just restrict someone from batting enough."

"If he wants to be prepared in a certain way, you ask him to prepare that way. He used to bat 2-3 years in the practice session. That's a great attitude," the 43-year-old had added in praise of Hooda.

The Rajasthan cricketer has represented India in 10 ODIs and 21 T20Is so far, scoring 153 and 368 runs respectively. While he has only managed a highest score of 33 in one-dayers, the right-handed batter has a hundred to his name in the T20I format. Hooda scored 104 off 57 balls against Ireland in Dublin (Malahide) in June 2022, hammering nine fours and six sixes.

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A glance at Hooda's Indian Premier League career

Hooda (29) has featured in 118 matches in the Indian Premier League (IPL), but has only managed to score 1,465 runs at an average of 18.31 and a strike rate of 129.53 with eight half-centuries, including a best of 64.

The right-handed batter represented LSG from 2022 to 2024. He had a fruitful season with the Lucknow franchise in 2022, scoring 451 runs at a strike rate of 136.67. He, however, struggled in the next two seasons and was subsequently released. Hooda was purchased by Chennai Super Kings (CSK) for ₹1.7 crore in the IPL 2025 mega auction.