Abdul Samad: “I also learnt a lot from Iftikhar bhai and Asif Ali in domestic cricket”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Pakistan batsman Abdul Samad has thanked big-hitters Iftikhar Ahmed and Asif Ali for teaching him a lot in domestic cricket.
Samad is trying to earn a recall to the national team after putting up some strong performances lately.
The 27-year-old has played five T20Is, with all of them coming in March 2025.
Recently, the Faisalabad native was in action for the Pakistan Shaheens in the Top End T20 Series, which also included the Adelaide Strikers Academy, Australian Capital Territory, Bangladesh A, Chicago Kingsmen, Hobart Hurricanes Academy, Melbourne Renegades Academy, Melbourne Stars Academy, Nepal, Northern Territory Strike, and Perth Scorchers Academy.
In seven matches, he amassed 231 runs, which included a century and a fifty, at an average of 46.20 and a strike-rate of 152.98.
“I also learnt a lot from Iftikhar bhai and Asif Ali in domestic cricket,” Samad was quoted as saying by PakPassion on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Given that he has not played international cricket for some time, Samad was not involved in Pakistan’s three-match series against Bangladesh in Lahore, the tour of Bangladesh, the limited overs tour of the West Indies, and the T20I tri-series against the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Afghanistan in Sharjah.
Pakistan are now featuring in the 2025 Asia Cup, which is taking place in the UAE.
They defeated Oman and the UAE in the group stage, but lost to India as well.
As for the ongoing Super Four, they were beaten by India again before securing a five-wicket win over Sri Lanka.
Pakistan’s next game will be against Bangladesh on September 25 in Dubai.
Pakistan squad for UAE T20I tri-series and 2025 Asia Cup: Salman Ali Agha (captain), Abrar Ahmed, Faheem Ashraf, Fakhar Zaman, Haris Rauf, Hasan Ali, Hasan Nawaz, Hussain Talat, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Haris (wicketkeeper), Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Sahibzada Farhan, Saim Ayub, Salman Mirza, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Sufiyan Muqeem