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Senior Indian batter Siddhesh Lad has been the crisis man of Mumbai in the last decade and has stepped up whenever the team needed him. Most of the knocks have come in pressure situations where he took Mumbai out of trouble with the bat after top-order collapses.

Senior Indian batter Siddhesh Lad has been the crisis man of Mumbai in the last decade and has stepped up whenever the team needed him. Most of the knocks have come in pressure situations where he took Mumbai out of trouble with the bat after top-order collapses.  

Against Himachal Pradesh, he also took the team out of the doldrums along with the youngster Musheer Khan (112) from 73/4 with a 157-run fifth wicket stand. He made 127 runs to ensure Mumbai got a good first innings total. He had scored a ton against Jammu and Kashmir also in Srinagar. 

"I have matured and worked more on work ethics and become more sincere in training sessions. I have played for so long and know what to do in situations. I am confident in my defense and back myself, which helps in red-ball cricket. I take it step by step and respect the bowler if he is doing well, and attack when needed. 

"I am grateful to play for Mumbai and feel great honour every time I step on the field," he said after the end of the second day's play in the Group D Ranji Trophy match against Himachal Pradesh. 

Lad labeled Shams Mulani as the main crisis man of Mumbai. Thanks to Shams Mulani's 69, Mumbai reached 446, a pretty big score on this wicket. The left-arm spinner then put breaks on the visitors' scoring when a fourth wicket partnership was developing between Pukhraj Mann and Ekant Sen. He dismissed Sen and allowed off-spinner Himnashu Singh to dictate terms from the other end.

"He is the crisis man of Mumbai in all departments. If you see his record in the last five years, he has done well in all the formats. I know there is great competition in the India A team, but he has done everything to deserve a place in India A. I hope he is picked in the IPL also," Lad said.

"He is one of the most street-smart cricketers in Mumbai currently and is a three-dimensional cricketer. He bowls with a mindset and bats well when we need him. He is a good fielder also," he added.

Lad acknowledged the wicket suited the spinners more compared to the previous game here against Chhattisgarh. "The wicket was a bit on the drier side compared to the Chattisgarh game. But there was assistance for pacers also, especially when they bowled back-of-length deliveries to generate bounce. Tushar (Deshpande) and Shardul (Thakur) bowled very well early on. Hmanshu has great potential. Shams has the experience, and he showed it."