Dinesh Lad, the childhood coach of Rohit Sharma has revealed how the cricketer as a youngster was able to bowl him over during one of his performances for his school. Lad, the father of Mumbai batsman Siddhesh, who is a top-notch coach and considered one of the best in the Mumbai cricketing circuit, recalled his first memory of a young Rohit, who impressed Lad not with his batting, but by rolling his arms over.
“There was one camp organised in Borivali, and there were some matches organised. I had put my school’s team and Rohit’s team came into the final and it was a 10 over game on a cement wicket, we won that game,” Lad said on Marathi cricket chat show ‘Coffee Cricket Ani Barech Kahi.’
“That time our school was new and I used to search for kids, the way Rohit bowled, I was impressed and thought that we should take this kid to our school.”
Lad, who has coached the Mumbai Ranji trophy team, also shared insights about Rohit and his family’s financial well-being. The coach claimed that Rohit’s uncle, whom he was living with, could not afford the school fee but Lad was so impressed with the boy’s performance that he convinced the director of the school to knock off the entire amount.
“I asked the (school) director to waive off his fees and Rohit was the first kid for whom I did that, at that time I didn’t think that he would play for India. They admitted him. If at that time, this granted freeship wouldn’t have happened, you couldn’t have seen Rohit Sharma,” Lad recalled.
Rohit, who recently became one of India’s five sportsperson to win the prestigious Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award, only the fourth cricketer in history to receive the honour, was the hero of India’s 2019 World Cup campaign. Rohit emerged as the tournament’s leading World Cup with 648 runs and the only batsman in history to hit five centuries in a single edition. While that is a mind-blowing achievement in itself, Lad reckons Rohit will have an even better World Cup three years later in India.
“Getting the Khel Ratna is a great achievement. I should not say this but if a poor boy has talent and he justifies it and has luck, then that boy can reach the sky and a living example of it is Rohit Sharma,” Lad added.
“All that he has earned due to his hard work and talent. My expectation is that in the forthcoming 50-over World Cup, Rohit should win it for India on his own ability,” Lad, a popular cricket coach in Mumbai circles.”
