Mumbai's Siddhesh Lad plays crisis man again and puts on 129 runs with Suryakumar against Railways
Mumbai's Siddhesh Lad bats with a face mask on the first day of their Ranji Trophy match against Railways at the Karnail Singh Stadium in pollution-hit New Delhi yesterday. Pic/AFP
Mumbai's Siddhesh Lad (80 not out) once again proved that he is the team's best batsman in a crisis. Yesterday, Lad helped the former champions to end Day One of their Ranji Trophy season opener on 278 for five against Railways in New Delhi.
Batting first on a low Karnail Singh Stadium wicket, Mumbai lost their top three batsmen for 98 by the 27th over. But Lad and Suryakumar Yadav (83) stitched a 129-run stand for the fourth wicket to help their team gain respectability.
ADVERTISEMENT
Suryakumar scored five fours and a six during his 144-ball stay at the wicket. For Railways, pacer Anureet Singh and left-arm spinner Avinash Yadav claimed three and two wickets respectively.
Suffering from a cold and Delhi's air pollution, Lad had to skip the team's training on Wednesday and wore an anti-pollution mask while batting yesterday. But he overcame all difficulties to start the season on a high. Batting at No.5, Lad read the conditions well and avoided playing across.
"Here (in Delhi) everything is different to Mumbai — weather, pitch etc. Scoring runs on this low wicket is tough and that's why I tried to play with a straight bat. I had to skip yesterday's (Wednesday) training because of pollution. "Today, it was quite difficult to breath while batting," Lad, who faced 165 balls told mid-day yesterday. He hit 11 fours during his gutsy knock.
Catch up on all the latest T20 news and updates here. Also download the new mid-day Android and iOS apps to get latest updates
Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" Click here!
