Deepak Hooda can contribute anywhere in Indian batting line up in T20 World Cup: Jonty Rhodes

The
selectors
on
Monday
(September
12)
announced
the
15-member
India
squad
in
which
Hooda
also
earned
a
spot
owing
to
his
performances
in
the
2022
season.
The
right-handed
batter
from
Baroda
became
the
fifth
cricketer
from
India
to
slam
a
ton
in
the
T20Is
to
enter
an
elite
club.

Responding
to
MyKhel’s
queries
in
Kanpur,
on
the
sidelines
of
the
Road
Safety
World
Series
2022,
the
South
Africa
Legends
skipper
shared
his
opinion
on
the
talent
pool
which
India
possesses,
the
impact
of
India’s
exit
from
the
Asia
Cup
Super
4
stage
and
the
rise
in
infrastructure
in
the
tier
one
and
two
cities
in
India.

Rhodes
–
who
has
been
a
part
of
the
IPL
franchise
Punjab
Kings’ coaching
setup
since
2020
–
has
personally
seen
the
growth
of
several
youngsters
up
close.
Praising
the
young
bunch
of
players,
who
earned
their
spot
in
the
current
Indian
side
on
the
back
of
good
performances
in
the
IPL,
the
legendary
cricketer
claimed
the
youngsters
deserve
a
place
in
the
national
side.

While
praising
Bishnoi,
Rhodes
said,
“I
think
Ravi
Bishnoi
is
a
promising
young
talent
for
India
from
the
leg-spinning
point
of
view
because
the
art
of
leg-spin
has
changed.
It’s
kind
of
evolved
and
has
gone
back
to
being
flatter
and
straighter
and
he’s
a
young
player
who
can
have
an
impact.”

Lauding
Hooda,
Rhodes
said,
“Also,
I
love
watching
Deepak
Hooda
and
I
think
he
can
contribute
with
the
bat
anywhere
in
the
lineup.
But
when
you
talk
about
young
players,
I
think
India
is
blessed
to
have
players
with
so
much
of
skills
in
the
batting
line-up
so
not
many
young
players
get
an
opportunity.
So
Hooda
for
me
is
someone
who
has
taken
on
the
chances
that
he’s
had.
He’s
got
a
hundred
and
that’s
great
to
see.
Arshdeep
Singh
is
also
someone
that
I
love
watching
bowl
because
I
have
spent
a
lot
of
time
with
him
in
the
Punjab
Kings
setup.”

Speaking
about
the
crowd
and
the
good
infrastructure
in
India,
Rhodes
–
who
has
been
touring
India
since
the
90s
–
said,
“The
crowd
has
always
been
exceptional
but
the
facilities
have
always
been
on
the
rise
here.
Since
the
2011
World
Cup
which
India
hosted
the
venues
have
got
better.
All
the
different
leagues
that
are
coming
up
have
received
a
great
response
from
sponsors,
from
the
states
and
the
Ministry
of
Sports
is
giving
back
to
the
game.
So
it’s
amazing
from
that
point
of
view.
During
my
playing
days,
we
only
used
to
get
to
play
in
the
metro
cities
where
the
facilities
were
good
but
not
in
tier
one
and
tier
two
cities.
So
it’s
incredible
to
see
facilities
matching
international
standards
across
India.”

While
speaking
about
the
rich
pool
of
talents
which
Indian
cricket
possess
and
asked
whether
the
problem
of
plenty
is
hampering
Team
India,
the
53-year-old
said,
“Because
of
a
tournament
like
IPL
and
the
BCCI’s
Future
Tours
Programmes,
the
young
guys
are
getting
the
opportunities
to
show
what
they’ve
got.
So
in
a
way,
it’s
a
blessing
as
you
have
a
big
pool
of
players,
but
it
could
also
be
quite
difficult
because
you
are
giving
opportunities
to
so
many
guys.
So
it
sometimes
becomes
difficult
from
the
team’s
point
of
view
because
a
T20
player
needs
to
understand
his
role
on
the
side
and
you
need
to
practice
your
role.

He
further
said,
“The
problem
with
India
is
that
there
are
a
remarkable
amount
of
players
available
and
giving
them
an
opportunity
(could
be
challenging).
Obviously,
in
a
world
cup
year,
it’s
quite
difficult
because
you
want
to
be
settled
on
to
a
formula
within
the
team
and
want
that
team
to
play
together.
The
one
thing
around
this
Indian
set-up
is
that
there
are
such
good
talented
young
players
and
to
give
everyone
an
opportunity
before
the
cutoff
date
of
squad
announcement
is
quite
difficult.
But
they’ve
got
players
who
can
switch
in
and
switch
on.
And
before
the
World
Cup,
the
practice
has
been
done
and
when
you
lose
where
you
were
supposed
to
win,
maybe
that’s
a
good
incentive.”