Lucknow Super Giants’ Jonty Rhodes Pokes Fun at Deepak Hooda for Dropped Catch
Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) fielding coach Jonty Rhodes couldn’t resist a playful dig at all-rounder Deepak Hooda after he dropped a crucial catch in their IPL 2024 match against Chennai Super Kings (CSK) on Friday.
Despite LSG’s clinical bowling performance that restricted CSK to 176/6, Hooda’s misjudgment in the 17th over gifted Ravindra Jadeja a six and CSK six extra runs.
After the match, Rhodes presented the Magic Mic award, given to the best fielder in the team after every LSG game, to Hooda. However, Rhodes’ decision was more ironical than anything, as he hilariously claimed that Hooda deliberately dropped the catch to prevent MS Dhoni from facing more deliveries.
“I think it was a smart decision by birthday boy Deepak Hooda to let the ball go for a six, so that meant Dhoni didn’t come out for another five balls,” Rhodes said in a video uploaded by LSG.
The entire dressing room erupted in laughter, and Hooda took the joke sportingly.
Dhoni, who came to bat in the 18th over after Moeen Ali’s dismissal, played an unbeaten cameo of 28 from nine balls, slamming two sixes and three boundaries.
Despite the dropped catch, LSG’s clinical bowling performance in the middle overs, led by Shivam Dube’s three-wicket haul, restricted CSK’s scoring.
Openers Quinton de Kock and KL Rahul set up the chase for LSG with a superb 134-run partnership. De Kock hit a 43-ball 54 while Rahul smashed an incredible 82 runs off 53 balls.
LSG achieved the target with an over to spare, securing their third win of the season.
