‘Not sure what happened there’ – Shaun Pollock flabbergasted by Abdul Samad’s lack of intent during SRH-MI clash

Former South Africa all-rounder Shaun Pollock was puzzled with Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) batter Abdul Samad’s performance during the clash against Mumbai Indians (MI). Notably, MI earned their third win of the IPL 2023 season after beating SRH by 14 runs at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad on Tuesday, April 18.

During the run chase, SRH were reduced to 72 for the loss of four wickets which kept them reeling in the contest. However, Mayank Agarwal and Heinrich Klaasen helped revive the chase with a 55-run stand but were soon dismissed by Riley Meredith and Piyush Chawla, respectively. 

Just when SRH started to lose grip in the chase despite being in a decent position to snatch the game away, the side introduced Abdul Samad as the Impact Player. Despite the substitution, Samad failed to have any kind of impact for the side as he could only get nine runs off 12 balls before getting runout. On that note, former cricketer Shaun Pollock was left puzzled and was critical about Samad’s lack of intent to help his side get to the finish line.

"(Abdul) Samad's performance, I am not sure what happened there. As a retained player, he didn't look like anywhere near the nick he needed to be to just try and contribute,” Pollock told Cricbuzz.

Biggest disappointment for SRH was Klaasen: Pollock

Pollock further added that Klaasen could have turned things around for the side, had he stayed for a bit longer in the chase. Notably, the flamboyant batter hammered veteran leggie, Piyush for 20 runs off four balls of the 14^th over. However, Piyush completed redemption as he got the SRH batter's scalp on the final ball of the same over. 

"The biggest disappointment for SRH was (Heinrich) Klaasen. I know it feels strange but in the over where he took down Piyush Chawla, Klaasen did all the damage that he needed to. He could have smothered the final ball to mid-wicket for a couple or a four. The kind of form he is in, he would have won them the game in the 19th over,” he added.