Rise and rise of ‘Lord Shardul’ and how coach Dinesh Lad played a part

PTI, Jan 4, 2022, 8:20 PM IST

Mumbai: From handling the frustration of not being played by his IPL franchise to a career-best seven-wicket haul in Test cricket, Shardul Thakur has come a long way but his childhood coach Dinesh Lad says he never really had to do anything special to mold the driven all-rounder except for ”working on his mental strength”.

Shardul returned with fine figures of 7/61, his best bowling figures in Tests, as India bundled out the hosts for 229 on the second day of the second Test at the Wanderers in Johannesburg.

It was Lad with whom ‘Lord Shardul’ or ‘Palghar Express’, as he is fondly called now for his reputation as a partnership breaker, stayed within Mumbai during his formative years.

An elated Lad told PTI on Tuesday, ”I did no specific work with him, but (I worked) on his mental strength. I remember when he was taken for the IPL, and he didn’t play for Kings XI Punjab (now Punjab Kings), he would be frustrated and say ‘they don’t play me’.

”I used to tell him it’s okay, they have selected you and it is important for you to practice with bigger players.” The 30-year-old made his Test debut against West Indies in October 2018, but had to wait for his next chance for a considerable amount of time.

Lad, who is also the childhood coach of India’s white-ball captain Rohit Sharma, had just one piece of advice for Shardul after he made the national breakthrough — ”don’t do anything different”.

”When he was (first) selected for the West Indies tour, at that time I had only told him don’t do anything different. The way you have bowled at the Ranji Trophy till now, the same way you have to bowl,” he recalled.

”You have now become big (and) at that moment, you will do something different and that will affect your bowling. Better way, do the same things, by which you have grown up and he kept listening (to the advice),” revealed Lad, one of the finest coaches in the domestic circuit.

”There was no specific discussion, he kept on learning. About bowling, I told him make the batter play, the more you make the batter play, more the chances of you getting wickets,” quipped Lad. Shardul, apart from being a pacer, is now a handy batsman, who can chip in with much-needed runs, as he showed in Gabba last year against Australia and Lad remembered how he worked on his grip.

”I changed his top-end grip and he benefited from it. But he worked on it, he understood what I was saying and he worked on it. He was a hard-hitting batter, but once he started playing with a straight bat, he got to know that he could stay on the wicket and do anything,” recollected Lad.

Shardul, who has now played in all three formats for India and is a regular member of the national team, hails from Palghar but it was on the insistence of Lad that he stayed at his Mumbai house.

”When I saw him, he played in a match against my school, after that I insisted that (he should stay with me) as travelling was an issue. I convinced my wife about Shardul staying at our place.

”One thing I am proud of is that I knew that this kid would do wonders and hence I kept him at my place,” said Lad. ”Had I not taken that decision at that time, maybe Shardul would have played there (at his town). My vision was if this boy came to Mumbai, he would play big cricket and since it was fulfilled, I was elated,” Lad said.

Lad, the father of Siddhesh Lad, also a known name in the domestic circuit, said that Shardul was talented and he kept motivating him.

”Shardul justified his talent. Had I not brought him to Mumbai, no one would have seen Shardul,” the senior Lad signed off.