Abdul Samsad, SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH)’s promising young all-rounder has said that former Indian pacer Irfan Pathan had instilled in him the confidence that he could go on to play for the national team if he displayed the ability to play long innings.
Abdul Samad said the same while talking about his evolution as a cricketer, in a video shared on the franchise’s YouTube channel.
Abdul Samad Started Cricket At 8 Years And Played In U-19 One Dayers
Abdul Samad recalled taking to the game at the age of eight while playing on the streets of Jammu and Kashmir.
“I started playing cricket when I was eight years old. I used to play in my locality and streets, and we used to go cover the wicket in the morning. Whoever reached the wicket first would play on that wicket,” said Samad.
Abdul Samad further said that while his father, who is a sportsman himself, encouraged him to pursue the game while his mother wanted him to concentrate more on his academics.
“My father has also been a sportsman during his time. He was a national volleyball player. My mother also supported me, but she used to ask me to pay more attention to studies than cricket. But my dad wouldn’t say that. He used to ask me to do what I like,” continued Samad.
Abdul Samad spoke about being disheartened after being dropped from the Under-19 team after failures and below-par performances and how he subsequently put in hard work and practiced more to improve his game.
“In 2017-18, I played Under-19 one-dayers but couldn’t perform, and I was dropped from the team. I felt really bad that I didn’t get selected in Under-19, and the next year, I started practicing more,” said Abdul Samad in this regard.
Abdul Samad revealed that he had never been a great performer in junior cricket when he played, as he used to play aggressively every time, which meant that he often threw his wicket away.
“My performance was always average in whatever junior cricket I have played. I didn’t perform much because I used to get out,, as I was trying to hit each ball for a big shot. My strike rate was good, but I could not get a lot of runs,” Samad added.
Abdul Samad has so far played 10 first-class, 8 List A and 23 T20 matches.
Abdul Samad Became More Selective In Stroke-play Following Irfan Pathan’s Advice
Abdul Samad recollected incident having told former Indian all-rounder Irfan Pathan that he was unable to score the big runs due to lack of patience when the latter had come to a training camp in Jammu and Kashmir.
“After playing Under-19 one-dayers when we came back home, there was a camp set up, where Irfan bhai had come. Irfan bhai saw me batting, and he asked why I was not able to score the big runs. I told him that I lacked a little patience,” said Samad.
Abdul Samad then said that the former India allrounder told him to play the long innings hitting selectively, as doing so could help him break into the Indian national team.
“He told me then that I should hit but a little selectively. He told me that if I look at scoring big runs, then I am capable of playing for India one day,” said Samad in this regard.
The SRH player continued his excellent performances in Syed Mushtaq Ali tournament which was the turning point of his career after debuting in Vijay Hazare Trophy.
“After playing Under-19, I was called for Syed Mushtaq Ali trials after which I made my debut, and my journey in senior cricket began because on my debut I made 76 not out against Nagaland and picked one wicket. That was a turning point for me in my career,” revealed Abdul Samad.
Abdul Samad further pointed out that he continued his excellent performances in last season’s domestic limited-overs tournaments, where his big-hitting game came to the fore.
“Last year, I debuted in Vijay Hazare Trophy, where my performances in matches was good. I hit 15 sixes, and I made 240 runs in eight matches. Then the next tournament was the Mushtaq Ali tournament. We played 6 matches, and we won 4,” Samad further said.
Abdul Samad said that following his fine performances in the domestic circuit, he was called up for IPL trials by three franchises before he expressed his delight at being picked by the Orange Army Hyderabad.
“Then I went to 3 places for IPL trials: Sunrisers Hyderabad, Rajasthan Royals and Mumbai Indians. When my name came on TV during the IPL auctions, and the Sunrisers Hyderabad picked me, I was very happy that day, as I was finally picked for the IPL,” concluded Samad.
The big-hitting all-rounder showed potential by scoring 111 runs for the franchise in eight innings, doing so at an excellent strike rate of 170.76.