The 11th match of the IPL 2020 saw Delhi Capitals (DC) taking on Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in Dubai and SRH batted first after DC won the toss and chose to bowl first.
Before the match, SRH handed a debut cap for their 18-year-old all-rounder Abdul Samad, who hails from Kala Kot, Jammu, and Kashmir. He made his FC, List A, and T20 debut for J&K in 2019 and so far has impressed with his hitting abilities as he boasts of a strike rate of 136.36 in T20s and 125.39 in List-A.
Samad was bought by SRH in the IPL 2020 auction for his base price, looking to replace the experienced Yusuf Pathan. Incidentally, Yusuf’s brother Irfan Pathan is the mentor-coach of the J&K team and was responsible for fine-tuning Samad’s game.
Abdul Samad ended the 2019-20 Ranji season with 592 runs on in 17 innings with two tons and three half-centuries at a strike-rate of 112.97. His average of 39.46 was also the best for J&K.
Meanwhile, he also impressed in the short time he was on pitch on his debut for SRH against DC, as he made 12* in 7 balls, including an 80-plus meter long six off Anrich Nortje.
His debut was noticed by Irfan Pathan who tweeted, “Another feather added to Jammu & Kashmir’s cricketing fraternity as Abdul Samad is all set to make his ipl debut.I wish him luck for his long career ahead! I am certain, this will create positive waves in J&K’s younger generations; who will look upto this upcoming Hero! #ipl”
Also elated at Samad bringing much glory to J&K was former CM of the former state, Omar Abdullah, who tweeted, “So good to see another youngster from J&K get his IPL cap. #AbdulSamad got his @SunRisers cap this evening. Here’s hoping his career goes from strength to strength.”
