Siddhesh Lad to replace Shardul Thakur as Mumbai captain for 2026-27 Ranji Trophy season | Cricket News
Mumbai: Mumbai will have a new captain for the second successive Ranji Trophy season, with seasoned batter Siddhesh Lad set to take charge of the 42-time champions in the 2026-27 campaign. Lad will replace allrounder Shardul Thakur, who led Mumbai across formats during the previous domestic season.Confirming the development, Mumbai senior selection committee chairman Rajesh Pawar said the decision was taken keeping both leadership continuity and workload management in mind.“Yes, we’ve decided to appoint Siddhesh as our captain for the 2026-27 Ranji Trophy season. He did well last season and is experienced. Shardul is our match-winner. There is already too much workload on him as he’s expected to bowl a lot of overs, take wickets and contribute with the bat as well. We don’t want to burden him with the responsibility of captaincy. Plus, we’ll have to manage his workload. There are 10 games in the Ranji Trophy and he may have to rest for the odd match,” Pawar told TOI on Monday.Pawar said both players had been consulted before the move was finalised.“We’ve spoken to both Siddhesh and Shardul about it, and both are positive about it. Since the season starts with four Ranji Trophy matches in October, we wanted clarity on the captaincy well in advance,” he added.The appointment rewards a stellar domestic season from Lad, who was Mumbai’s standout performer with the bat in the 2025-26 Ranji Trophy. The 34-year-old amassed 774 runs in eight matches at an impressive average of 77.40, striking five centuries to finish as the team’s leading run-scorer.Over the course of an accomplished first-class career, Lad has compiled 5,623 runs in 82 matches at 44.27, including 15 hundreds and 30 fifties. Mumbai begin their Ranji Trophy season against Chandigarh at Wankhede Stadium from Oct 11-14. They are placed in Elite Group D alongside Chandigarh, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, Railways, Tamil Nadu and Uttarakhand. Mumbai last lifted the Ranji Trophy in 2023-2024 under Ajinkya Rahane.
