Anshuman Hooda: From Engineer to DPL Purple Cap Winner and IPL Auction Prospect

At 25, Anshuman Hooda finds himself at a crossroads few cricketers could have imagined just a few years ago. 

By day, he was an engineering student at Delhi Technological University. By evening, he was learning the craft of fast bowling. Now, after winning the Purple Cap in the Delhi Premier League 2026, Hooda is preparing to enter the IPL auction pool.

His rise is remarkable not simply because of his numbers, but because of how late his journey began.

Hooda did not come through the traditional Indian cricket pathway. He did not spend his teenage years progressing through Under-14, Under-16 and Under-19 state cricket. Instead, he started playing organised cricket only in 2021, when he was already 20.

Four years later, the right-arm fast bowler has emerged as one of the most intriguing uncapped pace prospects in the country.

Hooda completed his B.Tech from Delhi Technological University in 2023. Until 2021, his focus was primarily on academics, leaving him outside the conventional elite cricket development system.

His cricketing journey changed when coach Harish Dagar spotted him during sessions at the Delhi Cricket Hub. Dagar saw the raw ingredients of a fast bowler pace, physicality, a high release point and the ability to generate steep bounce and began working on turning those natural attributes into a repeatable bowling action.

For the next couple of years, Hooda effectively lived two lives. Engineering occupied his days, while cricket took over his evenings. He worked on bowling, strength and conditioning alongside his university commitments before finally completing his degree in 2023.

Once his engineering education was complete, Hooda made the decisive choice to pursue cricket full-time.

He began building his reputation in Delhi's senior cricket circuit, playing for teams including Kishan Ganj Gymkhana and Delhi Cricket Hub. That exposure eventually took him towards the Delhi Premier League.

21 wickets and a Purple Cap

The breakthrough arrived in the DPL 2026. Playing for South Delhi Superstarz, Hooda finished the tournament as its leading wicket-taker with 21 wickets, earning the Purple Cap as the competition's most prolific bowler.

But the raw wicket tally only tells part of the story. Hooda's bowling average of 15.48 was the second-best among frontline bowlers, while his strike rate of 9.52 balls per wicket was the best in the tournament.

That combination made his campaign particularly eye-catching. He was not merely accumulating wickets through economical spells; he was regularly breaking partnerships and changing the direction of matches. Hooda was also the only bowler in the tournament to claim a five-wicket haul, finishing with 5 for 24 against East Delhi Riders. He added two four-wicket hauls, giving him three separate performances of four or more wickets during the campaign.

His five-wicket performance was particularly significant because it came against a strong East Delhi Riders batting unit. He tore through the middle and lower order to trigger a collapse.

Against West Delhi Lions, Hooda again demonstrated his ability to break partnerships, dismissing Nitish Rana for 60 and finishing with 4 for 27. The spell disrupted an 83-run partnership and helped South Delhi secure a comfortable victory.

Hooda's appeal extends beyond the statistics. At around six feet tall, he operates with a high release point and is capable of extracting steep bounce from a hard length. His primary weapon is not simply swing but the ability to hit the deck and make batters uncomfortable with pace and bounce.

That profile is particularly relevant in T20 cricket. In the middle overs, Hooda can be used as a strike bowler tasked with breaking partnerships rather than simply containing runs. At the death, he combines hard-length deliveries and bouncers with stump-directed yorkers and wide lines.

There is still room for refinement. His economy rate can fluctuate on extremely flat pitches, while expanding his slower-ball and change-of-pace repertoire would give him more options against experienced T20 batters. His control also came under scrutiny during the DPL final, when two dangerous high full tosses resulted in him being removed from the attack.

Those are precisely the areas an IPL franchise's coaching and performance staff could look to develop.

From Gujarat Titans nets to the IPL auction

Hooda already has some experience of the IPL environment. Last season, he worked as a net bowler for Gujarat Titans, giving him an opportunity to operate within a professional franchise setup and bowl regularly to high-level batters. That experience could prove invaluable if he is picked at the auction.

Instead of entering an IPL dressing room completely unfamiliar with franchise cricket, Hooda has already experienced the intensity of an elite T20 environment. He has seen how professional teams prepare, how bowling plans are developed and how much emphasis is placed on video analysis, fitness and tactical execution.

Now, however, his role could change dramatically. Last season he was a net bowler. This season he is entering the auction pool as a genuine domestic fast-bowling prospect.

An engineer with a very different cricket story

What makes Hooda's journey particularly compelling is the absence of a traditional cricketing backstory. He started organised cricket at an age when many professional fast bowlers already have years of competitive experience behind them. He had an engineering degree to fall back on and had already established an academic career before deciding that cricket deserved his full commitment.

The DPL has now given that gamble considerable validation.

Twenty-one wickets, the Purple Cap, the tournament's best bowling strike rate and three major multi-wicket performances have transformed Hooda from a late-blooming club cricketer into an IPL auction candidate.

The next chapter will be decided at the auction table. For Anshuman Hooda, the journey from engineering graduate to DPL Purple Cap winner has already been extraordinary. If an IPL franchise decides to invest in his pace, bounce and still-developing skill set, the next stage of this unlikely cricket story could begin under the biggest spotlight in Indian T20 cricket.