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"Work hard and strictly follow your coach's guidelines and your efforts will surely be rewarded," is the message from one of Indian cricket's greatest all-rounders, Madan Lal, to Bahrain's youngsters.
The 58-year-old well known coach was in Bahrain at the invitation of New Millennium School-DPS for a free coaching clinic which benefitted hundreds of pupils not only of NMS-DPS but also students of other schools on the island.
Madan Lal, who was a member of India's World Cup winning team of 1983, said proper facilities should be provided to bring out the inherent talent of youngsters. "Children should be coaxed into working hard to achieve their goals.
"It's not so much about talent as it is about hard work. It's not practice but perfect practice that will take children to greater heights."
Back in Delhi, the fit-looking Madan Lal runs a coaching academy for nine to 16-year-olds. He said: "I make it a point to be with the children at least four days in a week. And I try to work out regularly to maintain my own fitness level."
Reminiscing about the Indian team's only World Cup triumph against the West Indies, Madan Lal said: "Even after the fall of Viv Richards' wicket we were not sure that we could win the match but we knew that we were close to it."
