Deepak Hooda became the fourth Indian batter to hit a T20I ton after skipper Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul and Suresh Raina. Batting at no.3 ahead of Suryakumar Yadav, Hooda took just 55 deliveries to breach the 100-run mark. He reached his century in the 17th over of the innings against Ireland on June 28 at The Village, Dublin.
Partnership record
Hooda came in to bat in the third over after opener Ishan Kishan got out to Mark Adair. Hooda scored at a better rate than opener Sanju Samson who made his return to T20I cricket. The duo went after Irish bowlers and broke the all-time T20I record. Hooda and Samson shared a 176-run partnership which is the highest for second wicket in the format. They broke the record of highest partnership for India for any wicket as well. The India record previously belonged to Rohit and Rahul. They shared a 165-run opening stand against Ireland in 2017.
Previous record
They broke the record of England duo Jos Buttler and Dawid Malan. The English batter shared an unbeaten 167-run partnership against South Africa in December 2020. On the other hand, the previous second-wicket partnership record for India belonged to Virat Kohli and Rohit. They shared a 138-run stand against South Africa in 2015.
Hooda breaks Tendulkar's record
The 27-year-old Hooda scored 104 runs from 57 deliveries including nine fours and six sixes. He got out in the 18th over to Joshua Little and missed the chance of breaking the Indian record for highest individual score in T20I cricket. However, he broke legendary Indian batter Sachin Tendulkar's record. He became the first Indian to score an international hundred in Ireland. The previous highest individual score for an Indian on Irish soil belonged to Tendulkar who scored 99 against South Africa.
This was Rohtak-born batter’s fifth T20I appearance. In the previous encounter, he was promoted up the order as opener Ruturaj Gaikwad got injured during the field. Opening with Kishan, he scored an unbeaten 47 and guided India to an easy win in the rain-curtailed 12-overs per side game.
Huge total
Hooda's 104 also helped India post a mammoth total of 225/7 on the board. This is India's fourth-highest total in the format. Also, this is the third-highest T20I total against Ireland.
