Engineer by Day, Cricketer by Night: The Unlikely Journey of Anshuman Hood
Anshuman Hooda bagged 22 wickets in the third season of the Delhi Premier League and the 25-year-old is also an engineer by profession. (Special arrangements) NEW DELHI: Anshuman Hooda bursts out laughing when asked to choose between an office laptop and a cricket ball. “My cricket ball is my best friend,” he tells TimesofIndia.com.His elder brother Vikram Hooda says their mother, Prem Lata Singh, a primary class teacher at a Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) school, is happy that Anshuman is following cricket, especially since he now has a stable job. “Earlier it was said that she needed a job. Now that she has one and is doing well, she is happy,” Vikram says of their parents.Anshuman had a breakthrough 2026 season in the Delhi Premier League (DPL), winning the Purple Cap with 22 scalps, playing a key role in South Delhi Superstarz’s title run.But there was a time when Hooda thought cricket was over. Two attempts at under-23 trials were unsuccessful. There was no age-group cricket on his resume, no traditional path through Delhi’s junior system and no obvious path to first-class cricket. He graduated from Delhi Technological University (DTU) with an engineering degree and worked at EY. The sensible thing, he thought, was to move on.“I tried for two years to make the Under-23s but I couldn’t do it. I thought it would be very difficult because I hadn’t played any professional or age-group cricket. It would be very difficult to get straight into Ranji Trophy or first-class cricket,” recalls Anshuman.
Anshuman Hooda receiving the player of the match award from DDCA secretary Ashok Sharma. (Special arrangement)
“At the time I thought I should quit cricket and pursue my career in engineering or something.But just when he thought of quitting the game, his coach Harish Dagar, who runs a cricket academy called Delhi Cricket Hub in Delhi’s Paschim Vihar and coaches youth at DTU, intervened.“It was 2023. He had just graduated. He got a job through campus placement and was ready to move on with his life. I begged him to give it one more year. I asked him to come to my academy four days a week for one year and if nothing works out, I’ll let him do my corporate job,” Dagar recalls.
I have seen a lot of progress in my cricket over the last few months and this tournament. So, in the coming times, I might shift my entire focus to cricket and give it my all.
Anshuman Hooda
Then came the Delhi Premier League (DPL). And with that came a completely different option. For a young man who came late to leather-ball cricket, the DPL became the stage where his raw pace, athleticism and penchant for fast bowling were finally seen. Numbers followed. Attention followed and now Anshuman is finally ready to become a full-time cricketer.“I have seen a lot of progress in my cricket in the last few months and this tournament. So in the coming times, I could fully focus on cricket and give it my all,” he says.
The boy who skated before bowling
Anshuman is 25 and can be called a late bloomer in cricket terms. But perhaps the most unusual thing about Anshuman’s story is where he started. Not with the cricket academy. Not with the junior tournament. Not with a childhood obsession with bowling. With roller skates.
Anshuman Hooda graduated from DTU in 2023 with a degree in Manufacturing and Industrial Engineering. (Special arrangement)
Growing up, Anshuman was a national level figure skater. Cricket existed around him, but initially it was not the sport that defined him. His elder brother Vikram played cricket and as Anshuman puts it, there was a familiar sibling dynamic. His brother was engaged in science. He took science. His brother studied engineering. He studied engineering. But when it came to cricket, Anshuman’s journey took its own path.It wasn’t until he reached college that the game took off.“I just started playing in college and that’s when I got into leather-ball cricket professionally, playing for the varsity team and stuff. That’s when I fell in love with bowling fast, getting wickets and the aggression that comes with it. I just loved bowling fast.”
I worked on his mind 80-85 percent. I made him mentally strong. I told him never to think he was tired or overworked. Once I worked into his mindset and the itinerary was clear in front of him, he knew what he had to do.
Harish Dagar | Coach Anshuman Hooda
When cricket had to fit into a career
This love became the starting point of something that neither his biography nor his previous sports journey could have foreseen.Harish Dagar first noticed Anshuman in 2019 when they were in university. What caught his eye was not the polished fast bowler. It was a physical package.Fitness. Arm speed. Natural movement.Anshuman was playing tennis ball cricket when Dagar asked him to try medium pace. The first attempts were raw and erratic, but there was enough pace and athleticism to make the coach believe there was something worth developing.
Anshuman Hooda with his coach Harish Dagar (special arrangement)
“His body position was natural. His power was natural and his pace was natural. But initially he didn’t have enough power in his body. That’s why I told him that if you don’t maintain your fitness along with your natural pace, you will face problems,” says Dagar.“He was also busy with his work. He couldn’t always go to proper training sessions. He would come in at night, then he had to go to the gym and train. It was very hectic.”“I worked on his mind 80-85 percent. I made him mentally strong. I told him never to think he was tired or overworked.”“Once I worked on his mindset and the plan was clear in front of him, he knew what he had to do. One minute he had to focus on fitness, the next he had to do his job and then he had to come to me for a session.”
Fast bowling is not a very comfortable activity for the body. You accelerate, then your whole body has to absorb the impact before you start to pass. It definitely takes a toll on the body.
Anshuman Hooda
Anshuman studied manufacturing and industrial engineering at DTU and joined a multinational company in 2023. He worked from home, which helped him juggle the demands of his job with an increasingly serious cricket career. But balancing the two will never be easy.Fast bowling is a relentless craft. It requires strength, recovery, repetition and hours of training. Dagar’s approach was to build Anshuman patiently, focusing not just on speed but on the physical and mental foundations that allowed him to consistently mix quickly.Anshuman also had to understand his own body. He struggled with the nausea and physical toll that comes with repeatedly accelerating, landing and carrying his full body weight through bowling.“Fast bowling is not a very comfortable activity for the body. You speed up, then your whole body has to absorb the impact before you start bowling. It definitely takes a toll on the body,” he says.
Anshuman Hooda appeals for a wicket during the Delhi Premier League. (Special arrangements)
However, there was no great mystery behind his motivation. He adds, “It was the love of the sport and the love of fast bowling that motivated me and helped me get stronger every time.”This attitude was central to his development.
The making of a fast bowler
Dagar describes the next phase of the process more expertly: periodization, rest, strength work, workload scheduling, diet, physical therapy, and technical skills. Anshuman had to develop a stock ball and variations such as the leg knife and cutter, while ensuring his body could handle the demands of the pace.
Shikhar Dhawan himself, the owner of the team, surprised me. He came over and we chatted a bit. He gave me some very good tips and a direction to take from here.
Anshuman Hooda
The goal was never just quick delivery. It was to produce a fast bowler. The first real crack in the wall came through DPL.He got an opportunity in South Delhi in 2024 and initially found it difficult to get chances. Then came a spell that changed perception. The next season brought more opportunities, including a five-wicket haul, and he was soon being looked at by IPL franchises as a net bowler and a Test candidate.The journey from someone contemplating quitting cricket to someone attracting the attention of a franchise has been remarkably quick. For Anshuman, the attention became palpable when Shikhar Dhawan, the owner of his DPL team, spoke to him after his performances.“Shikhar Dhawan himself, the owner of the team, surprised me. He came and we had a little chat. He gave me some very good tips and direction on where to go from here,” he says.
Shikhar Dhawan praised Anshuman Hooda in one of his Instagram stories. (screengrab)
It was a moment of confirmation. For someone who had spent years outside the conventional cricketing circuit, noticing a familiar name was far more important than conversation.
Speed is not enough
At 140 kmph, Anshuman has the one commodity that can quickly change a fast bowler’s career: pace. Coach Dagar believes there will be more to come. Anshuman isn’t shy about wanting it.“Definitely, speed is what I want. If I can, I’ll definitely look to bowl even faster and build strength and skill to do that, making sure there’s no compromise on accuracy and line,” Anshuman said.That last sentence is important. Pace can be attention-grabbing. Accuracy keeps the fast bowler in the team. For Anshuman, therefore, the next challenge is not simply to reach for a bigger number on the speed gun. He is learning how to maintain a high pace over long spells, especially in red-ball cricket.He’s already thinking about it. “Those are the things we prepare for. Who bowls in a four-day or five-day game and bowls long spells with the same effort? That’s what I prepare for. If I get an opportunity, I will definitely do it.”Anshuman’s ambitions are clear. First, Delhi. Then first-class cricket. Then finally IPL and India.“The ultimate goal is to play and win matches for the country. That’s my ultimate goal,” he says.
Work or cricket
However, there is another conversation taking place in Anshuman’s life. A conversation between security and possibility. An engineering degree and a job in a good company offer a foreseeable future. And he has a promotion even before the DPL season starts. Cricket offers something completely different: uncertainty, competition and the possibility of a career that can disappear as quickly as it comes.
I’m currently back in. But since I have seen a lot of progress in my cricket in the last few months and this tournament, I might shift my entire focus to cricket in the coming times and give it my all.
Anshuman Hooda
Anshuman has returned to work for now. But his cricket has progressed to the point where further division between the two may no longer be possible.“Currently I have joined back. But as I have seen a lot of progress in my cricket in the last few months and this tournament, I might shift my full focus to cricket in the coming times and give it my all.”
Anshuman Hooda during his convocation at DTU. (Special arrangements)
It’s a significant line from someone who once considered quitting the sport altogether. There is also a quiet irony in that an engineer who has learned to manage competing demands may soon have to make a choice.Anshuman knows where he wants to go.“I’ll give it my all. We’ll see what happens next.”