Everything Rohit Sharma has earned is due to his hard work and talent, insists Dinesh Lad
Rohit Sharma celebrating after scoring 208 against Sri Lanka
|Rohit Sharma's childhood coach Dinesh Lad has insisted that all the laurels that Rohit Sharma has achieved are due to his hard work and talent and expects him to win the next World Cup for India. He shared that Rohit is a living example of how cricketers with unprivileged background can make it big.
Rohit Sharma, who was recently honoured with Khel Ratna award for his services in the field of cricket, has come a long way since his inconsistent start to the international career in 2007. The Mumbaikar was always considered to be one of the most talented batsmen but was able to justify it only after opening the innings for India in the limited-overs format. This has enabled him to amass over 9,000 runs at an average of 49.3 in 224 matches in ODIs.Â
Rohit's childhood coach Dinesh Lad has insisted that all the honours that the Mumbaikar has achieved thus far have been through his hard work and talent. Lad stated that he expects a World Cup-winning performance from his protege in the 2023 edition of 50-over World Cup after India lost in the semi-final of last World Cup despite the Indian opener smashing 5 hundreds. Lad also added that the Mumbaikar is a living example of an unprivileged cricketer making it big, despite the odds stacked against him. Â
"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. All that he has earned is due to his hard work and talent. My expectation is that the forthcoming 50-over World Cup, Rohit should win it for India on his own ability," Lad said on Marathi cricket chat show "Coffee Cricket Ani Barech Kahi" as quoted by TOI.Â
According to Lad, Rohit's uncle was unable to afford the school's fees and it was on his insistence that India's limited-overs vice-captain was given free admission into the school. He also suggested that it was only because of the scholarship that Rohit was able to pursue his dream of playing cricket.Â
"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.
