Abdul Samad – Cricket’s rising hope from Jammu and Kashmir
Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) were looking for their first win in the 13th edition of the Indian Premier League when they locked horns with table-toppers Delhi Capitals (DC) on Tuesday, September 29. After losing two consecutive matches against Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) and Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), Hyderabad made two prominent changes in their squad as they bought in Kane Williamson for Mohammad Nabi and debutant Abdul Samad for Wriddhiman Saha.
A fearless hitter and a good finisher, Abdul Samad’s journey of being born in a small village of Jammu and Kashmir, Kala Kot to making his debut in World’s biggest T20 league is nothing less than inspirational. Samad has become the third player from Jammu and Kashmir to play domestic cricket’s biggest extravaganza – the IPL. Before Samad, youngsters Parvez Rasool and Rasikh Salam had made J&K proud by making their respective debuts in the cash-rich league. Earlier, Manzoor Dar, too, was picked for the IPL but had to warm the bench.
Domestic performances
The 18-year-old made his T20 debut for his home state Jammu and Kashmir in the 2018-19 edition in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy while he played List A match for the first time in 2019 in the Vijay Hazare Trophy. The youngster had raised his stocks by smashing 68 off 53 against Gujarat in the 2019-20 Vijay Hazare Trophy in Jaipur.
The Jammu and Kashmir rookie had also made headlines with exemplary performance in his debut First-class season of Ranji Trophy 2019-2020. In an incredible outing in the domestic circuit the previous year, the young lad had amassed 592 runs including three quickfire centuries. Samad also smashed record 36 sixes, the most by any batsman in the season, and played an instrumental role in Jammu and Kashmir’s entry into the quarterfinals of the Ranji Trophy.
Samad, who turns 19 next month, has 237 runs in 8 List A matches at a strike rate of 125.4 while in T20 cricket he has 252 runs in 12 matches at a strike rate of 137.7 to his name. Talking about first-class cricket, Abdul has amassed 592 runs in 10 matches at a strike rate of 113 and an average of 39.5.
IPL comes calling
Samad’s all-round abilities and decent performance in the domestic circuit impressed the 2016-Champions Sunrisers Hyderabad as they picked him at a price of 20 lakhs INR in IPL auctions 2020 for their campaign in the T20 extravaganza. Ahead of the league, he was mentored by veteran pacer Irfan Pathan. Heaping praise on the young gun, Pathan had hailed him as the future of the Indian cricket.
After warming the bench for 2 matches, Abdul was finally handed his debut cap by SRH’s assistant coach Brad Haddin for the match against Delhi. In his first IPL match, the youngster scored not out 12 off 7 balls including 1 four and 1 six at a strike-rate of 171.43 as Sunrisers registered their first win by 15 runs.
