SRH management must have promoted Abdul Samad at No. 4 spot long back: Gautam Gambhir

Former India opener Gautam Gambhir feels that Sunrisers Hyderabad need to promote Abdul Samad at No. 4. The Jammu & Kashmir hard-hitter has been constantly used in the lower-order by Sunrisers Hyderabad, which has not allowed him enough time in the middle.

Although Samad has scored only 82 runs in five innings in the UAE thus far, he has managed to strike the ball better than many others around him, which was also the case during SRH’s last encounter when the team was restricted to an unimposing 115/8 by KKR on a tricky surface in Dubai. It was credit due to Samad’s 18-ball 25, with three sixes that Williamson’s men even reached close to 120-run mark when at one stage ever crossing 100 seemed a task for them.

“100% at No. 4. They [SRH management] should have promoted him at that spot a long time back,” Gambhir told ESPNcricinfo.

Stating further about SRH’s team combination, he said that they need not include Mohammad Nabi unless Rashid Khan sits out due to any reason. “It makes no sense to include Nabi until and unless they rest Rashid Khan”.

Can’t understand why Rajasthan made two changes in the winning combination: Gautam Gambhir

He further expressed surprise at Rajasthan Royals’ tactics of tinkering their winning combination as they brought Shreyas Gopal and Kuldip Yadav in for Mayank Markande and Akash Singh. “They made two changes after winning [against Chennai Super Kings]. This was the biggest surprise for me and I am still not being able to understand the reason behind it.”

While speaking on Mumbai Indians’ dominating victory over Rajasthan Royals, Gambhir lauded Nathan Coulter-Nile for his exceptional performance as he returned with 4/14 in his four overs.

“He is very injury prone. It’s not that he is not given a spot in the team but he often also misses out due to niggles. That aside, he kept things extremely simple today. Simplicity is bliss. At times the more you try to use your variations, the more you complicate things. Today, he bowled wicket-to-wicket, did not give batters room and reaped the rewards,” Gambhir said.