Siddhesh Lad’s scoring run continued on the second day of Mumbai’s Ranji Trophy match against Delhi at the MCA Grounds at the Bandra-Kurla Complex, with the Mumbai skipper equaling the long-standing record held by Rusi Modi and Sachin Tendulkar.Lad scored an unbeaten 102 off 170 balls, with 12 fours, to register his fifth century of the season. He thus became only the third Mumbai batsman to score five hundreds in a single edition of the Ranji Trophy. The 33-year-old has now scored 736 runs in seven matches at an average of 105.14 and is the fourth highest run-scorer in the tournament. This is also his fourth consecutive century.
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The timing of Lad’s form is significant, coming after a phase where he considered retiring from the game. Lad, who played for Goa in the 2022-23 season before returning to Mumbai, admitted during the 2024-25 season that he thought about retiring due to a lack of motivation. However, that season ended with him finishing as Mumbai’s top scorer with 602 runs in seven matches at an average of 60.20, including two centuries and two half-centuries.On Friday, Siddhesh’s father and coach Dinesh Lad, who also coached India captain Rohit Sharma and all-rounder Shardul Thakur in his childhood, revealed that his son was close to quitting the game before the start of the season last year before his family advised him against the decision. “He was a bit frustrated and wanted to quit cricket and wasn’t sure if he would get a chance to play for India. But his mother, wife (Hiral) and I explained to me that ‘Ty’s achieved what you have because of cricket. We feel you have to keep playing.’ He agreed with us to continue the game for this season,” Dinesh told TOI. “Ajinkya Naik (MCA president) also supported him a lot. He also pushed him to keep playing. Ajinkya told me that Sidhesh will hit six centuries this season and he messaged me today, ‘Sir, I told you.’ Ajinkya had such confidence in him,” the coach said. “Pali has been positive and worked hard on his fitness and his game. Head coach (Omkar Salvi) and selectors have fully supported him. Becoming captain has boosted his confidence. Looking at his superb form, he should now be considered for India selection,” said Dinesh Lad. Siddhesh, meanwhile, admitted that this is the highlight of his batting in his entire career so far, attributing his streak to rich experience. “I think so because now I feel like I know my game. (Now I know) When to score runs, what to do. The maturity a batsman gets after 30, I’m experiencing that now. How to score runs, when to score runs, in what situation to score runs,” Lad told reporters.For most of his career, especially early on, Lad, known as the ‘crisis man’ of the Mumbai cricket team, failed to convert his half-centuries into hundreds, something which is a must to get noticed by the selectors. However, since returning ‘home’ to Mumbai, the last two seasons have witnessed a different boy – one with an insatiable hunger for runs. “Earlier I used to do 50s and 70s. When you see my half-centuries, I’m around 30 in first-class cricket. But I tried to convert. Now I play with a different maturity,” said the senior batsman. Expressing his gratitude to the Mumbai Cricket Association for his support, Lad said, “MCA has shown faith in me. The MCA president supported me when I came back to Mumbai at the age of 32. Very few players come back after migrating to other states. So the way he welcomed me and showed faith in me doubled my motivation. If they show that faith, they show that faith.”Asked if he was hoping for a first India call-up sometime this year, Lad said he was not looking too far ahead in life now. “It’s always been my ultimate goal to play for this country. But right now I’m just trying to do my job. My first goal is to win the Ranji Trophy over Mumbai because I’ve come back from another state and MCA has shown faith in me.” When Lad talked about growing up as the son of a famous coach, he never felt burdened by it. “It’s always been a privilege for me. That’s how I see it. Dad never pressured me personally, even though people outside wanted to see it. When I came back to Mumbai, I didn’t know if I should continue playing cricket or not. It was (my) dad’s passion and he said ‘you still have a lot of cricket in you’,” he said.Lad expresses concern over dust and pollution at the BKC venue Meanwhile, Lad admitted that dust and pollution at the MCA ground in BKC due to an under-construction building nearby was a serious problem, especially when the Mumbai team was to play its knockout matches – starting with the quarter-finals from February 6 – at the venue. Quite a few of the Mumbai players were wearing working masks when they started in the field on Thursday. Lad said: “We talked about it with the team management. It was discussed a lot. It just kept getting bigger and bigger. We’re playing here next week. So it’s very important to get rid of this thing. A lot of people are having a hard time. So it’s important to address it.”
