'What a phenomenal rise' - Twitter in awe of Deepak Hooda after he smashes a ton against Ireland

Deepak Hooda has slammed his maiden international ton in the second and final T20 International against Ireland. He came out to bat at number three after India lost their opener Ishan Kishan early in the innings and just batted superbly taking on the opposition bowlers at will. It was an exhibition of excellent strokes and the crowd was treated to some great hitting at The Village in Dublin on Tuesday (June 28).

Hooda was confident after opening the innings and remaining unbeaten on 47 in a 109-run chase in the first T20I. He took a few deliveries to get going early on but then opened up his arms playing some nonchalant shots during his stay in the middle. He got an able partner in Sanju Samson who opened the innings and made sure to match the pace of scoring runs with Hooda.

However, it was Hooda who hogged the limelight for his free-flowing batting in the innings. After getting his eyes in, the man from Baroda took on the Ireland bowlers fearlessly and played some gorgeous strokes all around the ground on the up. With runs leaking from both ends, there was no place to hide for the hosts and they looked absolutely clueless in the middle as well.

To make things worse, Paul Stirling dropped Deepak Hooda in the 8th over of the innings and the latter made sure that he made them pay heavily for the miss.

Deepak Hooda smacked six sixes on the way to his maiden ton

Deepak Hooda was on a six-hitting spree during his knock and it started in the third over of the innings itself. He slammed a six off Mark Adair who tried bowling a bouncer at him and it was deposited into the stands comfortably. This got Hooda going and there was no looking back. He was given out LBW in the 5th over too but DRS saved him.

Hooda got to his well-deserved century in the 18th over of the innings off his 55th ball taking a single off Adair and followed it with a subdued celebration realising there was a job to be done for his team. He raised his bat to soak in all the applause from the crowd and his teammates. He also became the fourth Indian to score a ton in T20 Internationals helping India post a mammoth total after opting to bat first. Hooda was dismissed in the same over but not before smashing 104 runs off 57 deliveries with nine fours and six sixes to his name.

Here’s how Twitter reacted: