Jaiswal, on Wednesday, shared a reel on social media with snippets from a match simulation the Mumbai team undertook, and it included clips of him keeping wickets.
“With Yashasvi, I feel he is trying hard to start keeping wickets, that’s what I heard from him,” Lad said at a pre-season press conference on Thursday. “He wants to eventually in future, keep wickets for maybe Mumbai or go on to keep wickets for the Indian team. This is what he is aiming for, that is what I feel. But I haven’t got any clarity on that.”
While Jaiswal is an established member of India’s Test team, he is still a back-up to Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill and Virat Kohli in ODIs, and is only on the fringes of the T20I side, with his Rajasthan Royals opening partner Vaibhav Sooryavanshi also ahead of him in the pecking order now.
This could be what’s prompted Jaiswal to add another dimension to the game, with his part-time legspin rarely put to use after he made the move up from Under-19 cricket.
“He is someone who has started practicing keeping wickets because he feels he wants to add something more to his game,” Lad told PTI. “I am not very sure what his intentions are but right now he is practicing keeping wickets and if he keeps practicing he will get used to it.”
Jaiswal is available for the first match of the Ranji season – at the Wankhede Stadium against Chandigarh – before he travels to New Zealand first with the India A team and then the national team for the two-Test series. Lad revealed that Jaiswal himself called the Mumbai selectors to let them know that he wanted to play the Ranji match even before the team could enquire about his availability.
Lad spoke about the value Jaiswal adds, and what it means to have a regular international be a part of the dressing room.
“Someone like Yashasvi doesn’t only add performances but he adds value to the team with his experience and he is someone who has done really well at the highest level,” Lad said. “Sharing a dressing room with someone like Yashasvi helps us also with the youngsters. We are looking forward to it.”
Lad also said that allrounder Shardul Thakur, who is set to miss their season opener with a finger injury, is expected to return for their second game “or max third”.
