Makhaya Ntini’s son Thando in Dinesh Lad’s tutelage this summer | Cricket News – Times of India
MUMBAI: Cricket has no boundaries. Dinesh Lad, the childhood coach of the likes of India captain Rohit Sharma and all-rounder Shardul Thakur, is currently coaching South African pacer Makhaya Ntini’s son Thando at the Swami Vivekanand School ground at Gorai Extension, Borivali.
It’s the same ground on which Rohit and Shardul learnt their cricket from Lad. “Thando has been training under me for the past two days. He is here till June 2,” Lad tells TOI.
While Ntini took 390 Test wickets in an epic career, the 21-year-old Thando is finding his feet in the game. A left-hand batsman and a right-arm seamer, he was a member of South Africa’s 2018 Under-19 World Cup team and has played for Western Province and Kwa-Zulu Natal (Dolphins) in South Africa’s domestic cricket. In 14 first-class games, the 21-year-old all-rounder has scored 1,038 runs and taken 32 wickets. In 14 T20 games, he has scored 409 runs and taken 16 wickets. Lad wows for Thando’s talent. “Mark my words, in another two years, he’ll play for South Africa. He’s a very good all-rounder,” says the famous coach.
Explaining how Thando landed up from Johannesburg to his academy, Lad says, “A friend at Railways was the masseur for the South Africa Legends in the Road Safety World Series T20 in 2021. That’s where he met Makhaya Ntini. Right now, it’s off-season in South Africa. The other thing is that due to lack of finance, Cricket South Africa has staged no practice for the emerging players, something that they do every year. Ntini asked my friend if there was a good coach in India to whom he could send his son to. My friend told him about me and how I’ve coached Rohit and Shardul. He asked my friend to talk to me about it, and I agreed to coach his son. He then took a letter from me for his India visa, that he would come to my Dinesh Lad Foundation for a few practice sessions. He asked me for my charges, but I told him that I don’t charge to teach cricket, he just has to bear his personal expenses.”
To work on his bowling, Lad will move his training to the Payadde Cricket Club, Kandivali. “My ground is smaller in size. I can work on his batting here, but for bowling, he isn’t getting the space for his run-up here. I had requested Dr PV Shetty to allow him to train at his ground, and he has agreed,” the coach says.
Lad has begun to suggest changes to Thando to improve his batting. “He’s a good batsman. He told me that he’s an opening batsman, and has started to bowl only in the last four years. He bowls well. He told me that more than speed, he focuses on bowling in good areas, as that’s more important. I had suggested to him a few changes in his batting, and he agreed to implement them. He told me that he only plays shots towards the square leg. I asked him to open his shoulders a bit, and he felt much better. The other thing was that the face of his bat was closing when he would play towards the covers. I made a slight change to his grip, and it’s made a difference. I told him that he needs to improve his body balance while batting, and he worked on it,” Lad elaborated.
Praising his latest ward, Lad says, “The good thing about Thando is that he’s a good learner, and a humble boy.” “I’m deliberately starting his training at 10am, and not early morning, as that’s the time when matches start usually. He’s accepted the challenge (to practice in this heat). I had arranged for him to stay at the Sachin Tendulkar Gymkhana, but his dad made him stay at a hotel in Andheri, as he wants him to go through the grind a bit.
There are now two more overseas cricketing stalwarts’ sons whom Lad could end up coaching soon. “Last night, Carl Hooper and Andrew Symonds called up my friend, who had referred me to Ntini. Hooper’s son is 14, while Symonds’ son is 11. Both want their sons to be coached by me now, as they’ve been told by someone that I normally train kids of that age,” Lad revealed.
It’s the same ground on which Rohit and Shardul learnt their cricket from Lad. “Thando has been training under me for the past two days. He is here till June 2,” Lad tells TOI.
While Ntini took 390 Test wickets in an epic career, the 21-year-old Thando is finding his feet in the game. A left-hand batsman and a right-arm seamer, he was a member of South Africa’s 2018 Under-19 World Cup team and has played for Western Province and Kwa-Zulu Natal (Dolphins) in South Africa’s domestic cricket. In 14 first-class games, the 21-year-old all-rounder has scored 1,038 runs and taken 32 wickets. In 14 T20 games, he has scored 409 runs and taken 16 wickets. Lad wows for Thando’s talent. “Mark my words, in another two years, he’ll play for South Africa. He’s a very good all-rounder,” says the famous coach.
Explaining how Thando landed up from Johannesburg to his academy, Lad says, “A friend at Railways was the masseur for the South Africa Legends in the Road Safety World Series T20 in 2021. That’s where he met Makhaya Ntini. Right now, it’s off-season in South Africa. The other thing is that due to lack of finance, Cricket South Africa has staged no practice for the emerging players, something that they do every year. Ntini asked my friend if there was a good coach in India to whom he could send his son to. My friend told him about me and how I’ve coached Rohit and Shardul. He asked my friend to talk to me about it, and I agreed to coach his son. He then took a letter from me for his India visa, that he would come to my Dinesh Lad Foundation for a few practice sessions. He asked me for my charges, but I told him that I don’t charge to teach cricket, he just has to bear his personal expenses.”
To work on his bowling, Lad will move his training to the Payadde Cricket Club, Kandivali. “My ground is smaller in size. I can work on his batting here, but for bowling, he isn’t getting the space for his run-up here. I had requested Dr PV Shetty to allow him to train at his ground, and he has agreed,” the coach says.
Lad has begun to suggest changes to Thando to improve his batting. “He’s a good batsman. He told me that he’s an opening batsman, and has started to bowl only in the last four years. He bowls well. He told me that more than speed, he focuses on bowling in good areas, as that’s more important. I had suggested to him a few changes in his batting, and he agreed to implement them. He told me that he only plays shots towards the square leg. I asked him to open his shoulders a bit, and he felt much better. The other thing was that the face of his bat was closing when he would play towards the covers. I made a slight change to his grip, and it’s made a difference. I told him that he needs to improve his body balance while batting, and he worked on it,” Lad elaborated.
Praising his latest ward, Lad says, “The good thing about Thando is that he’s a good learner, and a humble boy.” “I’m deliberately starting his training at 10am, and not early morning, as that’s the time when matches start usually. He’s accepted the challenge (to practice in this heat). I had arranged for him to stay at the Sachin Tendulkar Gymkhana, but his dad made him stay at a hotel in Andheri, as he wants him to go through the grind a bit.
There are now two more overseas cricketing stalwarts’ sons whom Lad could end up coaching soon. “Last night, Carl Hooper and Andrew Symonds called up my friend, who had referred me to Ntini. Hooper’s son is 14, while Symonds’ son is 11. Both want their sons to be coached by me now, as they’ve been told by someone that I normally train kids of that age,” Lad revealed.
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