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The J and K hero- Abdul Samad

Reasi is 66 km away from Jammu and Kashmir, and from the town Reasi, a 60+ km on the road will take you to Kala Kot village. The village has a population lesser than 600, and there are approximately 98 houses, and most of them do agriculture. The place is known for Gemstones and now Abdul Samad.

Ask anyone in the place, they would give you the exact address. Especially right after his IPL selection. The whole place cheers for him and expects him to go well in this edition.

Standing close to 6-feet, fitness ran into their family as his father was a physical-education instructor with Government school in Jammu. While his mother is home-maker, his brother is currently studying Masters. His brother also played cricket, but studies took over. When Samad was keen about the game, the family didn’t want to stop him.

His father took a loan to buy a vehicle in order to take him to the training before and after schools. His brother took up the responsibility of paying it back. Everyone in the place knew Samad was special and hitting sixes came naturally to him, but Jammu and Kashmir is no Delhi or Mumbai. The training facilities aren’t as similar to other major states. The place lacked proper mentors too.

When Irfan Pathan took over, Samad was one of the talents he was able to unearth. Samad’s fearlessness and the way he was smashing all types of bowlers impressed Pathan. The 16-year-old was one of the cleanest hitters at that time, had wonderful hand-eye coordination. Pathan has seen that before. Yes, Samad reminded him of his brother Yusuf.

There was this instant bonding since then. When Pathan went through his records, he was shocked to know about his scores. He had sixes and fours, the 20s and 30s but no major knocks. Pathan, along with Samad’s coach Mewada, walked him through the importance of choosing the right deliveries to hit and explained to him why he wasn’t getting big scores. 16-year-old Samad realized then, and things weren’t the same since then.

Samad soon went on to play in the Syed Mushtaq Ali trophy 2018/2019 and in his debut match against Nagaland, he smashed unbeaten 76 while opening the innings. In 5 matches he played, he ended up scoring 120 runs.

In the same year, He debuted in the Vijay Hazare Trophy and that was when the world saw his six-hitting ability for the first time.

It was the match against Gujarat, and Piyush Chawla was bowling around the wickets. The ball pitched right before his legs, and Samad smashed it back over Chawla’s head for a six. Chawla changes the line a bit, goes a bit outside off. Samad kneels to hit the ball over the midwicket for a six. After tiny discussion, Chawla bowls from over the wicket, but the result was the same, at the same place. Chawla then bowls outside-off, Samad reaches it strikes it over Chawla’s head for another six. This four deliveries did all the talking. The recruiting teams from different franchises including Mumbai Indians and Rajasthan Royals called for a trial.

A few months later, Samad’s coach Mewada got a call from his old friend VVS Laxman. Sunrisers Hyderabad was looking for a middle-order batter who can play the role of a finisher as well. Mewada suggested Samad’s name. Samad was then called for trails. He was then given a situation- 80 from seven overs. Samad made 48 with five sixes with a strike-rate well over 200. This impressed the recruiting team.

**
Pathan continued mentor Samad, who now has become more of a family. There were regular visits, lessons, friendship and more.
**
In the 2019 season, Jammu and Kashmir had a poor Vijay Hazare Trophy, were good in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. After a brief assessment, Pathan came up with road map for Ranji Trophy. He mailed the programs and practice sessions to the boys. The team began to practice soon, but then abrogation of Article 370 happened. The boys were sent home immediately, and the near future looked uncertain.

Pathan took a call to move the preparation to Baroda. The players then moved to Baroda and practices under different conditions. As they moved out of their state, they didn’t have much contact with their family and they had no idea what was going in the state. Soon Pathan and Mewada hired mental conditioning coach to provide mental strength for the players. It was one of the toughest situations in life.

However, practising in different conditions helped the team as they reached the Quarter-final for the second time. Samad was the top-scorer for the team. Samad had 592 runs from 17 innings with a strike-rate close to 113. He had 50 fours and 36 sixes.

*
Right after the Ranji Trophy, India entered lockdown. During that time, he constantly was in touch with Pathan, would send him practice videos and Pathan would analyse it. This was a routine until the lockdown eased a bit. Before the IPL, Pathan requested Vadodra to allow Samad practice there. The management accepted the request. Coach Mewada and Pathan made sure that Samad was 100% before going into IPL. They helped him master multiple shots for the same delivery. They taught him to play the upper cut well.

Days later, Samad would go on to practice in the UAE alongside some of the legends of the game and one of his idols, David Warner.

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