“He was hurting within” - SRH batting coach Hemang Badani opens up on chat with Abdul Samad after KKR loss

SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH) batting coach Hemang Badani has revealed that Abdul Samad was hurting within after failing to lift the team to victory over Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR). He added that the batter was extremely keen to prove his worth to the franchise.

Samad scored 21 off 18 in the IPL 2023 match against KKR on Thursday, May 4, but was dismissed in the last over as SRH lost the game by five runs. On Sunday, May 7, though, the 21-year-old made amends by smashing a last-ball six to lift Hyderabad to a four-wicket win over Rajasthan Royals (RR) in Jaipur.

Reflecting on the much-needed win in a post-match press conference, Badani credited Samad for staying motivated despite facing disappointments.

Sharing details of his conversation with the batter after SRH’s loss to KKR, he said:

“I have to give full marks to Samad. He was the first one to come up to me [after] the previous game and said, ‘I should have finished the game’. He took ownership of it and said that, with nine off six balls, more often than not batters would finish games for their side. He didn’t finish it well and he was a little unhappy about it.

"He had a similar instance with the game against Mumbai. That again was a game that he felt he could have finished. He was hurting within and was like, ‘I have been around with SRH. This is my third year. I am a retained player and I really want to make it count. I really want to try and show them that I am worth your time and investment'."

Praising Samad for finishing the job against RR, Badani added:

“He’s ensured that he stays strong. He’s obviously worked on a few things. A few sides have tried doing certain things to him, which I am obviously not going to talk about. But we’ve tried to work on that and one of them did come off.”

With five needed off one ball, Samad was caught off Sandeep Sharma’s bowling. However, the pacer had overstepped. The SRH batter then launched the free-hit delivery over the bowler’s head for the match-winning six.

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“Phillips gave us the injection” - Abdul Samad

Speaking after his last-ball heroics, Samad hailed teammate Glenn Phillips (25 off seven), terming him the “game-changer”.

Phillips struck Kuldip Yadav for three sixes and a four off consecutive deliveries to bring Hyderabad back into the contest in a tough chase.

Praising the Kiwi batter, the SRH youngster said:

When I went in to bat, it wasn't an easy situation. Phillips gave us the injection and we got a good partnership in the powerplay as well. I was waiting for the ball in the slot to hit it. Luckily, I got a no-ball as well. Phillips is the game-changer for us.”

Chasing 215, SRH were lifted by good contributions from Abhishek Sharma (55) and Rahul Tripathi (47) before Phillips and Samad did the job at the death.