For many seasons since making his Ranji Trophy debut in 2013, Siddhesh Lad has been labelled the crisis man of Mumbai cricket for dragging his side out of a hole and taking them to safety. Once in a while, however, even nature can tend to help such cricketers by giving a relaxed scenario to ply their trade.
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It was one such instance for the 33-year-old right-hander in the ongoing Group D encounter against Puducherry, where all the stars seemed to have aligned for him to have a day out with the bat. An eased-out pitch, a fast outfield and a tiring, listless attack meant that Lad could finally keep his mind at peace and blaze away to a career-best 170 off 285 balls on Day 2 on Monday.
The early signs that he could be in for the long haul were seen on Sunday, when he ended Day 1 on 80 not out. On Monday, he carried on from where he left, unleashing an exquisite cover drive and straight drive off Aman Khan in the 91st over to get closer to his hundred.
That landmark arrived a few overs later, when he flicked Sabhay Chadha for four and celebrated with Sarfaraz Khan at the other end.
The carnage, however, was only beginning as the right-hander used the long handle to great effect soon after reaching the landmark, peppering the off side and straight boundaries to leave the Puducherry captain Sagar Udeshi and its bowlers searching for ideas to get him out.
Sarfaraz Khan and Siddhesh Lad added 160 runs for the fourth wicket for Mumbai against Puducherry. (Express Photo by Amit Chakravarty)
The assault forced Udeshi to set defensive fields, and at one stage, he opted to come from over the wicket with no slip and men patrolling the boundaries. The field setting had no effect on Lad as he reached his 150 with a straight six off Aman.
Sarfaraz comes good
On Saturday, Sarfaraz had touched upon the grass covering on the Wankhede Stadium pitch as Mumbai readied itself to play a first-class match at the venue since the 2023-24 Ranji Trophy final against Vidarbha. However, when he walked out to bat on Sunday he would have known that the green tinge was merely to hold the surface together.
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It also meant that he had a chance to cash in against Puducherry, and he grabbed the opportunity with both hands, registering his first half-century of the season. Apart from all the shots in his innings, what stood out was his celebration after getting to his fifty, when he removed his helmet and raised his arms, as one would after notching a hundred. He fell for 67, caught behind off Aman.
Brief scores: Mumbai 630/5 decl. in 130 overs (Lad 170, Anand 107 n.o. Chadha 2/144) vs Puducherry 43/4 in 12 overs.
