Rohit was identified by Lad in 1999

I was mighty impressed with Rohit's stroke play: Lad

Rohit picked up a match-winning hattrick against Mumbai Indians in 2009

Indian captain Rohit Sharma has been magnificent in the top order and a testament to India’s positive intent in this World Cup. It is however surprising that he had initially started off as a spinner. “I first saw him in 1999, when the Borivali Sport and Culture Association had organised a tournament for various age-groups. Rohit Sharma was in the under-12 category, and his team, Vailankanni School, was playing against my school in the final. It was a 10-over match and they scored 68 runs. We won the match easily, but I saw Rohit bowl two overs of off-spin and I was very impressed with his action,” Dinesh Lad, coach-cum-mentor of Rohit Sharma said in an interaction with Sportskeeda. Lad later convinced Rohit Sharma’s uncle to have him included in Vivekananda School wherein he was the coach and even managed to have his fees lowered. 

Dinesh Lad was the person to have identified Rohit Sharma’s potential for batting. “Next year, during one of the early morning practice sessions, I saw him knocking and he was doing it quite well. I then sent him into one of the nets, he batted and I was mighty impressed with his stroke play. That is how Rohit Sharma the batsman started off,” Lad mentioned. Rohit Sharma has not bowled in a long time but it must be remembered that he did pick up a match-winning hattrick against Mumbai Indians in 2009 while he was playing for Deccan Chargers.