15 sixes, two tons: Abdul Samad becomes first J&K batter to hit multiple Ranji Trophy hundreds in a match | Cricket News
Hard-hitting Abdul Samad on Monday became the first J&K player to hit two hundreds in a Ranji Trophy match.
Taking on Odisha at the Barabati Stadium in Cuttack, Samad’s explosive 117-ball 127 was laced with six fours and nine sixes in the first innings. Thought J&K missed out on the first-innings lead after Odisha made 272 in reply to their 270, Samad return with another quickfire knock to sail over his team’s top-order collapse.
The 22-year-old crafted his second century of the match in only 105 balls with five fours and six sixes. No other J&K batter had achieved the feat of scoring two tons in a First Class match before. Samad’s 15 maximums in the match has only been bettered twice before Indians in First Class cricket. Samad finished unbeaten on 108 off 108 balls as J&K set a 269-run target with a little more than two sessions to play on Day 4.
Samad has aggregated over 1400 runs in 25 First Class matches with six centuries. Samad’s hard-hitting skills was spotted SunRisers Hyderabad who roped him into the franchise in 2020. Samad made 50 appearance for SRH across five seasons between 2020-2024, scoring over 550 runs, including 36 sixes.
Samad has ofted credited his early success to Irfan Pathan, the former India all-rounder, who as J&K’s mentor had spotted him in 2018 during the trials at Jammu’s Science College Ground.
Even back then, the teenager had all the shots and the confidence to back his burgeoning talents. Pathan was instantly impressed and decided to draft him in the squad. “I first saw him two years ago during trials organised to spot upcoming talent. I was immediately impressed his stroke-play and his ability to hit shots on the up. There were about 400 guys and he was one of the five whom I had picked,” Pathan told the Indian Express in 2020.
Most sixes in a First Class match Indians
26 – Tanmay Agarwal (Hyderabad v Arunachal Pradesh) – 2023-2421 – Rishabh Pant (Delhi v Jharkhand) – 2016-1715 – Abdul Samad (J&K v Odisha) – 2024-25*15 – Yusuf Pathan (West Zone v South Zone) – 2009/10
