From maidans of Kolkata to leading the ‘Royals way’ of coaching – the Siddhartha Lahiri story

Siddhartha Lahiri has the makings of a motivational speaker. As he starts the conversation, narrating his story from the  maidans of Kolkata to the fast lanes of franchise cricket leagues and his early struggles in England, one can’t help but get fascinated.

On the face of it, it may sound like any other story of a struggling young cricketer who eventually made it big in the coaching world. But Lahiri or Sid – as he is fondly referred to by his friends and colleagues – explains how a ‘disillusioned’ youngster left everything behind and went to London to get his England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) coaching badges. He even took up the job of a gardener-cum-groundsman to chase his dreams.

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Over the last couple of decades, he has managed to inspire and motivate a bunch of young cricketers who have now made a name for themselves in international and franchise cricket. Riyan Parag, Olie Pope and Shoaib Bashir are among those who have been his wards. He’s also helped stalwarts of the game, like Jos Buttler, refine their game.

Now, in his new role as the Head of International Player Development at Royals Sports Group, Lahiri focuses on working round the year with the franchise’s academies worldwide, with locations in Pune, Jaipur, Surrey and New Jersey and holds coaching positions in Royals’ franchises overseas.

The Royals Sports Group is a global sports organisation known for its operating expertise in scaling the businesses it creates and acquires. As expert cricket franchise owners, RSG’s portfolio includes the Rajasthan Royals in the IPL, Barbados Royals in the CPL, the Paarl Royals franchise in SA20, Royals School of Business and the Rajasthan Royals Academy with a global network.

The Rajasthan Royals Academies, with Lahiri at the helm, empower young talent and coaches with innovation and excellence, imbibing in them, ‘The Royals Way’ of coaching.

While he works closely with some of the big names now, it has taken years of hard work and determination to come so far.

A student of the late Gopal Bose, a former India international and a noted coach, Lahiri played for Dakshin Kalikata Sansad, Milan Samity, Anandabazar Sports Club and Customs in Cricket Association of Bengal’s local first-division tournaments. But, by his own admission, there was no hand-holding, and he did not know how to graduate to the next level.

“We come from that generation where there was a huge amount of uncertainty and a lot of us were a part of this. We were very disillusioned young guys who were trying to make a career out of cricket,” Lahiri tells  Sportstar.

Like most of his contemporaries, he, too, dreamed of playing for India but did not know how. “As time passed, I realised that it was not just me – there were so many others in the same boat. There was a huge disillusionment in terms of what we would achieve by playing cricket. Coming from lower middle-class families, the foremost question was whether we could find a job by playing cricket,” he says.

While Lahiri and his friends waited for that one opportunity, they would often hear stories from their seniors, who would travel to the United Kingdom to play club cricket. “They would tell us how good the infrastructure and facilities were in the UK. We were fascinated by those stories. We wanted to be there but did not know how…” Lahiri says.

His opportunity came in 1997 when a bunch of young cricketers travelled to England for an exposure trip with Bose. Rajarshi Chaudhuri, a former Ranji Trophy cricketer from Tripura and a noted coach in England, organised those trips.

After a successful stint in the first season, Lahiri earned a contract with a local club next year. “However, I hated being in England back then. I did not like it. I thought the way I learned the game and the way coaching was being conducted in England were completely different. I thought I’d never go back to England,” Lahiri says.

On his return to Kolkata, he started a telecom business and sold mobile phones. After initial success, the business bombed, and by 2003-04, Lahiri made up his mind to go back to the UK and earn a living from cricket. He eventually made it to England, did his ECB Level 1 and 2 coaching courses from Middlesex, and the club recommended his name for Level 3.

But life wasn’t easy. As he looked for coaching opportunities following the completion of Level 3, Lahiri came across a club called Stoke d’Abernon CC in Cobham, Surrey. “I was working in a newsagent shop to meet my needs from 5 o’clock in the morning to 5 o’clock in the evening. My stay was taken care of, and on weekends, I would take a train, and that’s how I played local matches,” Lahiri says.

While that continued for a while, Lahiri got his break when he finally got a job at the Parkside School in Cobham. David Aylward offered him a job as a groundsman as there was no scope for hiring a cricket coach. “In England, English people are self-sufficient, so gardening is something that’s common. In India, we don’t know odd jobs. He (Aylward) had thought that I would be able to do some gardening and some job as a groundsman. I just told him yes, and he asked me to train under the then-groundsman, who was retiring…”

However, Lahiri said that he did not enjoy the job. There were moments when he contemplated quitting but didn’t. About six months later, he met Aylward again – this time with a proper plan.

“I requested him to allow me to train young cricketers at the school hall, which was lying vacant. I told him that if we trained young boys every evening and throughout the day on weekends, we could earn about 5,000 to 8,000 pounds a year, and that would benefit the school,” Lahiri reminisces.

Aylward wasn’t totally convinced, but he gave Lahiri a chance.

Slowly, the Star Cricket Academy was launched and soon became home to several British and Asian cricketers. “In September 2018, we moved to Reed’s School in Cobham and subsequently, the brand partnered with Rajasthan Royals in February 2019,” Lahiri says.

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Since then, Lahiri has been actively working with the Royals – first as their head of academies in the UK, followed by multiple roles he took up, from being a coach for the Rajasthan Royals to all the RSG franchise teams as it expanded their footprints. Now, he is eager and excited about replicating his amazing story for many others as Rajasthan Royals Academies expand globally.

In the Royals setup, as he interacted with Riyan, Jurel or a Sanju Samson, Lahiri realised that the current crop of cricketers was fearless. “The current generation has moved away from the fear factor. When we were young, we were scared of elders – irrespective of being a cricket coach or a school teacher or parents.

“Our childhood was more about being disciplined, and when I look at these young guys – be it Riyan or Yash or Dhruv, they don’t have that fear. They don’t see coaches as fear factors. They like to see coaches who can be like mentors, people with whom they can have interactions,” Lahiri says, quickly adding that the team captain, Sanju Samson, is someone he has a lot of respect for. “He is the most aggressive player but the nicest human being. He is a hugely confident character and is very respectful…”

He remembers the first time he met Riyan in 2019, it was the all-rounder’s first season with the Royals, and Lahiri worked closely with him.

“When I first came into the IPL in 2019, I spent 14 days working with Riyan. Our Director of High Performance, Zubin Barucha, had asked me to work with Riyan, who back then was not even in the team. And then, he made his debut, and slowly, his story has been great as well. He is a young lad who enjoyed instant success. He had to face a lot of criticism and trolling, but he is hugely talented and has unbelievable power,” he says, making it clear that sheer hard work and indomitable spirit have paved the way for Riyan’s entry into India’s white-ball side.

Siddhartha Lahiri with Riyan Parag.
| Photo Credit:
Special Arrangement

While Royals has been that franchise, which has unearthed several young talents, Lahiri remembers his conversation with Sanju once, where the captain had told him to ensure that even the players who weren’t getting a chance to play got equal opportunities in training. “And that is the key to success for a team. If you look at our performances over the last few years, we were runners-up in 2022, fifth the following year and third in the last season. That speaks volumes about our side,” he says.

Though Lahiri has worked with the Royals franchises in-season, his primary focus now is to work with the Royals’ academy set-up as it expands globally, and having run academies for years, he has a clear vision.

“Manoj Badale, the owner of Rajasthan Royals, always had this vision about the academy, about promoting young talent. I came from a background where I worked at the grassroots. I started that business from scratch, and that’s where Ollie Pope, Phil Salt, Bashir and others came and continued. So, when we partnered with the Royals, I knew what to do,” Lahiri says.

“We now have an academy in New Jersey. We have opened academies in India, in Jaipur and Pune. And my dream now is to ensure sustainable planning for these academies. I give them a complete blueprint, and I am in touch with them regularly. There are regular calls and masterclasses. We’re creating our own content, and my dream is that the Royals’ way of coaching will be simple – if a kid is taught in England in a particular way, we will do the same in India,” he adds.

Though he has not worked with Royals’ new head coach, Rahul Dravid yet, Lahiri has closely worked with the director of cricket, Kumar Sangakkara, Trevor Penney and Shane Bond, among others, who he has high regard for. Even during the IPL, he had some ‘memorable interactions’ with Ravichandran Ashwin, which helped him immensely.

Siddhartha Lahiri (top right) with Rajasthan Royals, Director of Cricket, Kumar Sangakkara (top left) and captain, Sanju Samson (bottom left).
| Photo Credit:
Special Arrangement

In his long career, Lahiri has realised that it is important for a coach to be clear in his communication and have a cordial relationship with players where they can trust the coach.

“I remember when I met Riyan recently in Bengaluru, we spent a few days without talking a word about cricket. We spoke about life, food and other things, and that’s when you realise that you have been able to earn the trust of a player,” Lahiri says.

Three decades ago, when he started playing cricket in Kolkata, he dreamed of donning the national colours someday but lack of opportunities and no hand-holding meant his dream remained unfulfilled. But coaching has given him a chance to give it back to the game and handhold several young talents as they chase their dreams. And, ‘Sid’ is loving this journey!