Where is Lad?

Baffled MCA managing committee members debate why the Mumbai U-22 batsman is not part of Mumbai Sr one dayers team after scoring 1201 runs this season.

Written by Devendra Pandey
February 14, 2012 04:47 AM IST

3 min read

The omission of middle-order batsman Siddhesh Lad from the Mumbai Senior Team for the one-day matches in the west zone league tournament came as a surprise to many,and it also saw a debate rage in the MCA managing committee meeting held a few days ago. Some members had wanted to know why the talented batsman who has scored 1201 runs this season didn’t find a place in the Mumbai senior probables team. It was just a week ago that Lad scored 142 runs in the Vizzy Trophy and he had earlier scored two back-to-back hundreds in the inter-collegiate tournament to showcase his form.

It was really surprising not to see the young boy’s name,as he is a highly talented cricketer. Such boys should be given a chance, argues Sudhir Naik,coach of National CC where Lad plays. The 25 member probables squad which has names of Ajinkya Rahane,Wasim Jaffer and Abhishek Nayar makes Mumbai a strong contender for the West Zone games starting from February 22.

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However,the MCA senior selection committee chief Milind Rege says the young boy should not feel disheartened with his exclusion. In the past,many Mumbai cricketers have had a tough ride before they made it to the side. He (Lad) should not think that if his name is not there then he can’t make it to the Mumbai team. He is good,that is why we had included him in the Mumbai Ranji squad for the quarters earlier. There is so much competition in Mumbai,sadly,we have fewer positions and more contenders, Rege said.

In hindsight,even if Lad was picked,then chances of him making the final 15-member squad were slim. In the last five years Mumbai has had the luxury of having bowling all-rounders in their side and the team bank heavily on their services. Having Ramesh Powar,Iqbal Abdulla and Ankeet Chavan means Mumbai can fit in only four-five batsmen at the top. What has been astonishing to see is MCA going only with a 25-member squad than 30 members. Former India player Naik alleged that personal interests of few selectors had marred and spoiled Mumbai cricket badly.

You just take out the Mumbai team list and maximum players hail from the same two-three clubs. You won’t find players coming from maidaan clubs anymore. This is where Mumbai is going backwards, he said.

Mumbai captain announcement

The MCA will be announcing its 15-member squad along with the captain for the Mumbai senior team on Tuesday that will take part in the west zone league tournament to be played in Mumbai from February 22. Though Abhishek Nayar emerged as a strong contender for the post,talks floating around in MCA suggest that Ajit Agarkar might also get a look-in for the captain’s job.