Banswara's Dishant Yagnik is plying his trade as the fielding coach in Rajasthan Royals. He has been part of the Rajasthan team from district level to the Ranji team. The journey to the Rajasthan team was not so easy for Dishant Yagnik. Mother wanted him to become an engineer or doctor. Father wanted him to progress as a cricketer. Then he insisted and shifted to Jaipur. For the first time in C Division cricket tournament in Jaipur, he scored more than 500 runs. Read Dishant's exclusive conversation with Dainik Bhaskar… Question – When and how did your career as a cricketer begin?
Answer – My grandfather Govind Lal Yagnik was the first in our family to start playing cricket. He worked for the British in 1930. Back then, he used to play cricket with the British. After him, my father Harendra Yagnik also played cricket at college and university level. My cricket journey began by watching both of them. After this, I started taking cricket coaching in Banswara at the age of seven and a half years. Then gradually I represented Banswara in tournaments like Under-14 and Under-16. At that time, mother wanted me to become an engineer or doctor. Father wanted me to progress as a cricketer. Then I stubbornly shifted to Jaipur. That's when I first scored more than 500 runs in C Division cricket tournament in Jaipur. After that I joined the Under-16 Rajasthan team. Then I got the opportunity to become captain of the Under-19 Rajasthan team. In 2004, at the age of 19, I was given the chance to play in the Rajasthan Ranji team. In this, I gave good performance as a batsman and wicketkeeper. Question – How did you get selected in Rajasthan Royals team? Answer – Initially in the Indian Premier League, there wasn't an option for domestic level players. When IPL started, I was playing in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. My performance in this was quite outstanding. At that time, I had the opportunity to join three teams – Mumbai Indians, Deccan Chargers and Rajasthan Royals. On my father's suggestion, I decided to become part of Rajasthan Royals. Since then, Rajasthan Royals has been like a family to me. Question – You have shared the dressing room with Shane Warne, Rahul Dravid and Kumar Sangakkara, what is the most unique and interesting thing about these three? Answer – Shane Warne, Rahul Dravid and Kumar Sangakkara are the players with the most knowledge of cricket. They know how to deal with every situation. From pre-game to post-game, the way these three handle the game is quite similar. In 2011, a match between Mumbai Indians and Rajasthan Royals was being played at Jaipur's Sawai Mansingh Stadium. Sachin Tendulkar and Devin Smith were batting. Shaun Tait was about to bowl. Suddenly, Shane Warne asked Ashok Menaria to bowl. While wicketkeeping, I stumped Sachin Tendulkar on the very first ball. This all happened so suddenly, which was quite new for anyone. Shane Warne had sensed all these things much earlier. I felt that his sixth sense worked really well. Similarly, I got the chance to play under Rahul Dravid's leadership. His thinking is completely crystal clear. He shows complete trust in his fellow players. This enables them to give even better performances. Question – How is the experience of sharing the dressing room with Sanju Samson from being a team player to being a coach?
Answer – Sanju Samson is like my younger brother. He is completely fearless. If you have to define the fearless world, Sanju Samson's name will definitely come up. In 2012 when I was injured. Then while handing over my gloves to Sanju, I had said that I am not just giving you my gloves, but handing over the post of Rajasthan Royals' keeper. You have to represent India. Perhaps Saraswati was sitting on my mouth at that time and today Sanju has become not just Kerala and Rajasthan's but every Indian's favorite player. He has made many changes in his nature. When he first came, he was quite introverted. Now he has completely changed. We had many big players in our team. There were Boult, Buttler, Ashwin and coach Kumar Sangakkara. Sanju managed everyone very well. Question – How was the journey from being a player to becoming a coach?
Answer – The journey from player to coach has been quite interesting. I have helped many players in my career. All the Ranji players from Rajasthan. During the off-season, they would often come to me in Udaipur. They would take suggestions from me to improve their technical part. I really enjoyed delving into the technical aspects of batting, bowling and fielding. I am now reaping the benefits of that. During lockdown, I worked a lot with Sanju Samson. He had many problems with his keeping. He has improved tremendously in this area very quickly. Question – Rajasthan Royals has invested heavily in the High-Performance Center, why is it so necessary? Answer – I am a big supporter of practice sessions. Science also says that if you do something ten thousand times, excellence comes in your work. That's why Rajasthan Royals has built a high-performance centre. It is now being talked about worldwide. Players like Sanju Samson, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Riyan Parag, Devdutt Padikkal of Rajasthan Royals team have practiced extensively at the center. As a result, all these players have been able to improve their performance significantly compared to before. Because there, a player gets different types of training with help from all kinds of pitches, bowlers, batsmen and players. Many players have succeeded in making a place in Team India by playing at Rajasthan Royals' high-performance center. Players like Yashasvi Jaiswal, Riyan Parag and Dhruv who are 22-23 years old are examples of this. At our centre, training is provided not just for playing T-20 matches with Rajasthan Royals, but to prepare them for playing in all formats for Team India. Therefore, if any player feels they want to make it to Team India, they can come to the High-Performance Center and further improve their skills.Original Article