India is one cricket frenzy country and almost every kid born here aspires to be a cricketer one day and represent their country.
Mumbai boy, Siddhesh Lad, is no different and has always dreamt of playing cricket for India at the highest level.
Having a father who has also coached some of the finest cricketers produced in the country has kept the Mumbaikar in the headlines for some time now.
Siddhesh’s father, Dinesh Lad, has coached another Mumbai batsman Rohit Sharma in his early days, and since a very long time, Lad has been aspiring for his son to represent the country one day.
Siddhesh who plays for Mumbai in the domestic circuit had an impressive Ranji Trophy season despite Mumbai failing to make any major impact in the 2017/18 season.
He scored 652 runs at an impressive average of 59.27 with two centuries and three fifties to his name. Lad also had an impressive Vijay Hazare Trophy, as he scored 373 runs in six matches which included three centuries. He finished the tournament as the fifth highest run-scorer.
Siddhesh was picked by the Mumbai Indians in the current season of the Indian Premier League and is sharing the dressing room with his father’s student, Rohit Sharma.
Dinesh Lad said that Rohit is like an elder brother to Siddhesh. He said,
“Rohit is like an elder brother to Siddhesh, he keeps talking to him about the game and has also had a word with me. He spoke in the media also about giving a chance to Siddhesh. But I understand, it depends on the combinations he wants. The Mumbai middle-order is also packed with the likes of Pandya, Pollard and Rohit himself. Suryakumar is also doing well as an opener, but Siddhesh should see this as a learning experience and improve his game,”
Talking about his son’s talent, Lad added,
“He was a natural talent; every child is given a bat and ball when he is small. But the way he held the bat and the way his bat flow was, I knew that he was a born cricketer. From the age of 6, I started giving him special attention and always wanted to see him become a cricketer,”
“I never gave him any preference when coaching him in the group, but since he was my son, I used to work with him on Saturday and Sunday as well, when other kids had an off. I had to ensure that I gave him the best of coaching,”
He also added that his ultimate aim is to see his son play for India,
“See IPL is not the priority, my dream is to see him play for India. If he continues performing the same way for a couple of more seasons, it will be hard for the selectors to ignore him,”
