Siddhesh Lad

Mumbai's newfound 'crisis man', Siddesh Lad has carved out a niche for himself in the domestic circuit. A middle-order batsman, who's proficient in his defences and a solid temperament, Siddesh is the son of a well-known coach in Mumbai's cricketing circles, Dinesh Lad, whose other popular student includes Rohit Sharma.

His first claim to fame was as the captain of the Western Wolves side in the Toyota University Cricket Championship. He quickly climbed up the ranks through age-division cricket, making his Mumbai debut in the 2013 season of the Ranji Trophy. He was soon winning matches for his side single-handedly, like the 88 runs he scored in the finals of the 2015-16 season, batting beautifully with the tail. In the 2017-18 season, he emerged as Mumbai's highest run-scorer with 652 runs in seven matches - a rare bright spot in an otherwise dismal campaign.

Through the years, Siddesh remains of those rare few batsmen whose style of play is reminiscent of a bygone era, with the ability to bat long in the lower middle-order. He has also been rewarded consistently in the Duleep Trophy. In 2015 he got an IPL contract with the Mumbai Indians, and though he has remained with them since, he hasn't been able to break out of his 'defensive player' reputation to get a spot in the playing eleven.

Written by - Vineet Anantharaman