Although missing catches and good fielding are opposites, Hooda actually got the recognition of the best by missing. This is what Rhodes said while presenting him with the award.
The catch that Hooda missed was in the 17th over of Chennai Super Kings' innings. Ravindra Jadeja bowled Mohsin Khan towards long on with the third ball of the over, where Hooda was. Hooda, who was near the boundary rope, could not even take the ball in his hands, the ball went out of bounds.
According to Rhodes, Hooda deliberately let the ball cross the boundary. When he took the catch, Mahendra Singh Dhoni would have come on the field at that time, who would have scored runs at a blistering pace. But since Hooda missed the catch, Dhoni was able to play at least five fewer balls. In the video posted on the official X page of Lucknow Super Giants, Rhodes is seen saying to the Lucknow players gathered around, "Fielding is not just about performing well, fielding is also about keeping your head down. There is a guy named MSD in that yellow team (Chennai), who bats at a strike rate of 400. In my opinion, it was a smart decision to let Deepak Hooda's ball go for a six at that time. If Dhoni had come at that time, he would have played five more balls."
Lucknow players burst into laughter at Rhodes's comment. Hooda, who was leaning to one side at the beginning, also burst into laughter and accepted a doll from Rhodes as a reward.
Rhodes was not wrong. Dhoni came on the field 7 balls after Huda Jadeja missed a catch. He played an unbeaten innings of 28 runs off 9 balls. Although the match ended in Chennai's favour
Couldn't win.Dhoni's 176 for 6 wickets helped Lucknow to overcome the deficit with 6 balls remaining and 8 wickets in hand.