Things are looking brighter between Krunal Pandya and Deepak Hooda in IPL 2022 after their infamous altercation last year.
Deepak Hooda said Krunal Pandya is “like my brother”, putting their controversial feud behind after a mishap last year in the nets for Baroda’s state team.
The two Baroda cricketers are now combining forces to help Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) flourish through the league stage of the IPL 2022.
Speaking of their relationship in an interaction with the Dainik Jagran, the spin bowling allrounder said their altercation is a matter of the “past” now and they are professional enough to overcome such setbacks to play with their heart and honesty for the team.
“Krunal Pandya is like my brother, and brothers do fight,” Deepak Hooda said. “We are playing with one aim, which is to win games for LSG.”
The cricketer also said he was never concerned or feeling any sense of discomfort over the prospect of having to share the dressing room with Krunal heading into IPL 2022.
“I was not watching the IPL auction,” he said. “We met just like the other players at the team hotel. Whatever happened is in the past, and as I said, we both are playing for the same team and our goals, too, are the same.”
It’s all hunky-dory between Krunal Pandya and Deepak Hooda in IPL 2022
The two cricketers may have now mended ways, but heading into IPL 2022, the fans were quite worried as they felt Deepak Hooda wouldn’t find it as easy spending time and sharing the same dressing room with Krunal again.
The duo had an infamous argument in January last year during a net session where Hooda was preparing for Baroda’s next Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 game.
WATCH: Former foes Krunal Pandya and Deepak Hooda hug each other after Shubman Gill’s dismissal
The batter alledged Krunal, the Baroda skipper, of “misbehaviour” with him and controversially stormed out of Baroda’s bio-bubble in place for the tournament.
While Krunal has stood mum about the whole episode, Hooda narrated his side of the story in a letter to the state association.
“At this moment, I am demoralised, depressed and under pressure,” he wrote. “As from last some days, my team captain Mr Krunal Pandya is using abusing language to me in front of my teammates and also other state teams who have come for participation at Reliance Stadium Vadodara.”
“Today I was practising in nets and doing my preparation for tomorrow’s game with the permission of head coach Mr Prabhakar. Then Krunal came in nets (and) started misbehaving with me,” added Deepak Hooda, who has since joined Rajasthan at the senior Indian domestic level.
