Even rohit

Dinesh Lad Cricket Foundation: For over three decades, Dinesh Lad, the childhood coach of former captain Rohit Sharma, has devoted his life to nurturing young talent — not for fame or fortune, but out of love for the game. Today, however, the veteran coach finds himself struggling to keep his cricket foundation running and is appealing for financial support to sustain his dream of shaping India’s next generation of cricketers.

“I’ve been providing honorary coaching for the last 30 years — I’ve never taken money from anyone,” Lad told IANS. “My students have gone on to play for India, represent their state teams and for Mumbai across various age groups. For 30 years, this is all I’ve been doing.”

Two years ago, Lad founded the Dinesh Lad Cricket Foundation, a not-for-profit initiative through which he has adopted 22 children, most of them from rural parts of India. “They are all highly talented kids,” he said. “But unfortunately, I’m not getting the kind of financial support that’s needed. When I was coaching the Mumbai team, I used to divert whatever money I earned to support them.”