Mumbai batsman Siddhesh Lad has got Indian Premier League (IPL) jackpot because of his stunning outing in the Indian domestic circuit, picking up by the Mumbai Indians (MI) at the IPL Auction 2018 earlier this year.
However, the youngster already earned fame after his brilliant display for Mumbai in the domestic circuit, as Siddhesh was the leading run-scorer for Mumbai in the 2017–18 Ranji Trophy, with 652 runs in seven matches. The 25-year-old right-hander also had a decent Vijay Hazare outing this season, as he finished with 373 runs at an average of 62.16 in 6 matches.
Meanwhile, his father Dinesh Lad, who is a well-known personality at the Mumbai cricket as well as Coach of Indian opener and MI skipper Rohit Sharma, has told Cricketnext that Jr. Lad was a born cricketer and his dream is to see him donning Indian colors.
Sr. Lad went on to further say that IPL is not the priority and advised him to not get disheartened if he doesn’t feature in the Playing XI because it is just a platform to earn experience and improve game to make it to the national squad.
He stated, “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.”
Commenting on MI captain, Mr. Lad added, “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.”
He signed off by saying, “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.”
