The upcoming stars of Sunrisers Hyderabad, Abdul Samad and Umran Malik have been named in the Jammu and Kashmir squad for Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. The duo have made a name for themselves in the recently concluded IPL 2021 in UAE. While their team SRH were knocked out very early, the youngsters were at their best, especially Malik who bowled the fastest ball of the entire tournament.
Meanwhile Samad remains an asset for SRH. His ability to clean hit, coming down the lower middle order has augered well for his team. He can be a handy spinner and an excellent fielder on occasions. He has been promoted to the position of Vice Captain and will be deputy to Shubham Pundeer who takes charge from Parvez Rasool. Rasool was the first player from Valley to play the IPL and then donned India jersey.
On the other hand, Malik joined SRH squad after T Natarajan was injured. The speedster bowled at speeds above 140 consistently. The pacer bowled a 152.95kmph ball, which even impressed India captain Virat Kohli. He was also included in India squad as a net bowler. J&K play their first game on November 4. “This tournament throws up talent every year, good to see a guy bowling at 150 clicks. It is important to know the progress of individuals going forward. Whenever you see talent like this, you need to nurture them. Little hiccup in the journey but we will carry on with the same momentum,” he had remarked.
Former India cricketer Irfan Pathan has been mentoring this side and it will be interesting to see if his effort are coming to fruition when the tournament begins. He played a key role in Samad and Malik playing at the highest level.
Here’s the full squad:
Shubam Pundeer (c), Abdul Samad (vc), Ian Dev Singh, Shubam Khajuria, Qamran Iqbal, Vivant Sharma, Henan Malik, Parvez Rasool, Manzoor Dar, Umran Malik, Abid Mushtaq, Yudhveer Singh, Mujtaba Yousaf, Irfan-ul-Haq, Suryavaansh Raina, Aqaib Nabi, Waseen Raza, Ram Dayal, Jatin Wadhawan, Paras Sharma, standby- Umar Nazir
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