'Rohit Sharma is a Shaana since childhood' - Siddhesh Lad reflects on growing up as a Mumbai cricketer [Exclusive Interview]

Siddhesh Lad's story of resurgence is one for the reckoning. The same Siddhesh who once struggled to become a regular feature in the Mumbai squad not only made a strong return to the side but also became their captain in the 2025-26 season. The path to this comeback was when the local boy had captained the MSC Maratha Royals to a Mumbai T20 League title in 2025.

Siddhesh also has a lot of childhood stories with Mumbai veterans like Rohit Sharma, Shreyas Iyer, and Aditya Tare. During an exclusive chat with this website ahead of the Mumbai T20 League 2026, where Siddhesh will be leading the Maratha Royals side as the defending champions, the cricketer opened up on his storied career in domestic and IPL cricket. 

Excerpts from the interview

What was the experience of captaining the Maratha Royals to the Mumbai T20 League title last year, especially against Shreyas Iyer's team? A word on Shreyas' captaincy, please!

Firstly, I think the Mumbai T20 League is one of the biggest platforms for every one of us. It's a bridge for all the youngsters from a junior Mumbai team to the senior Mumbai team, or you could say the IPL or getting to the Indian team, so yes, everyone is very excited. We had a great experience last year; we were the champions. We really had a great time together lifting the trophy, but I feel this year we want to start with zero; we don't want to carry that baggage of pressure of being the defending champions, and all we are doing is starting from zero, and we are trying to work on all the small things which we can do to make the team's environment better.

Talking about Shreyas Iyer, I've played with him and seen him since my childhood. We were together in the same academy, Shivajipark Gymkhana, so I've known him since childhood, and he's been an inspiration for every one of us from being a club cricketer to being one of the best in the country or, you can say, in the world as a batsman, so I feel very happy for him.

I feel he's a very confident guy, and he believes in himself and his abilities, and he knows what he's doing on the field, and I've played very little cricket under him as a captain, but what I've heard from others is that he's very shrewd and he's very calm under pressure, so I think being calm is what helps him to make those quick decisions in T20 cricket because T20 cricket is always one where you need to make quick decisions; you need to back your instinct, and I feel he's really great in that.

Who are a few youngsters in the Maratha Royals team worth keeping an eye on in the 2026 season?

We've got a balance of everything, junior and senior. But if I tell you we've got a couple of good junior guys in the team, one of them is Om Bangar – he plays for CCI, and he's been batting really well. Then we've got, I think, Pratik Shukla, who's, I think, 20 or 22 years old, and he hits long sixes so he's someone you can look up to – I mean, we are looking up to as  who can give us  quick runs in the death over so Pratik Shukla, to name a few

What's the pressure or motivation for entering into the Mumbai T20 as defending champions?

"I think pressure will be there on us because last year when we entered the tournament, we were the underdogs, but we ended up winning the tournament, and I feel we dominated all the games; most of the games we dominated, so this time the team will. All other teams are going to come hard at us because they know our strengths and weaknesses. Last year was ours, but they didn't know what our strengths are or what our weaknesses are, so this year is a testing year for every one of us, but we don't want to think much about that; we are focusing more on what we can do better as a team, how we can keep the team environment better, and where the young players can come under pressure and perform for us, so these are the small things which we are focusing on.

"We've got great support from the support staff and the owners. Where we've been playing a lot of practice games, we've been gelling well, we've been bonding together, and we've been staying together, so yeah, I think preparation-wise we've done really well, so now let's see. It's important that you click at the right time as a team; you get that momentum because we've got experience in the team. We've got Rohan Raje, who's played in the 2008 IPL for the Mumbai Indians' first two years, so we've got senior players from I mean, a 38-year-old to 19-year-old, so we've got a good mix, so now it's important that we come together and play as a team."

Growing up as a Mumbai cricketer, what are some untold stories or anecdotes of Rohit Sharma that you have to share? Your father also coached him initially, so what is the difference between that version of Rohit and what he has become today?

"I feel the talent was always there. Whenever my first game for the school I played was under Rohit when I was 10 years old, so we always knew that he was someone special. When we saw him batting in the nets or in the games, but with that he's worked really hard, you just can't reach that level with your talent. You need to work really, really hard, and you need to add all those things, which makes you a good, a great cricketer, because if you want to play at the international level, your routines have to be good, and our preparations have to be good, so in all, I've got to learn a lot from Rohit since my childhood.

"He's always been an inspiration to a lot of us because we've also seen Rohit grow as a cricketer. I've seen him as a schoolboy and as one of the best in the world as a batsman, so we've also spent a lot of time bunking during the school days. After practice, we had that free time when we were allowed to practise for a couple of hours, but we always extended those two hours to three hours, four hours, bunking off school, so he was a leader at that time. But yeah, those were great memories for me. He was a Shana back then, and he's a Shana now."

Which captain has had a big influence on your career?

"I've played under a lot of captains who've played for international For the Indian team, also, I've played my first game under Ajit Agarkar in the Vijay Hazare Trophy, but I think Aditya Tare is someone; he's captained Mumbai for a long time, and he had a great influence on me from sharing the room with him, talking about cricket, and spending time; we were together playing for Mumbai and Indian Oil Corporation; we played together for a year.

"We worked for Indian Oil, so we played together there, so Aditya Tare was always like a big brother, or you could say a mentor, to me during my early days, and he's someone who's helped me really, really. He was someone who used to tell me about my game, or he used to – we had that constructive criticism between us that whatever he felt, he used to come and tell me, 'Boss, I think you're not focusing or whatever it is.'So Aditya Tare is someone who's helped me get to where I am."

Whom did you idolise growing up?

"My father has always been there for me since I've started playing cricket. He was my school coach, my personal coach, whatever, and still, if I want, if I have some doubt or if I want to talk about cricket, he's the guy who I talk to, and he knows my game inside out, but with my father there have been a lot of people who have helped me really grow as a cricketer, like Praveen Amre, sir.

"When I was 10, I think my father only suggested to me that I should go and play some competitive cricket because beyond Bandra there were not many clubs or schools that were competitive, so he always wanted me to grow as a cricketer, so he suggested to me that I go for selection at Shivaji Park Academy, and if I get selected, I will have that exposure to play against good sides in town, so that has helped me, really helped me a lot, coaching under Pravin Amre, sir, as well."

Who, according to you, is one of the most technically sound batters in India right now?

"If I have to think beyond Rohit or Virat, I think I would say Ayush Mhatre is someone I really like. I've seen him play in the last two years we've played together in the Ranji season. I've played; I've seen him playing in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy this time, and he looked very different, very special, so I feel Ayush Mhatre is someone I feel can play for the country very soon."

You recently were reinstated to the Mumbai domestic side and also became their captain. What was the experience like?

"I played for Goa for one season after the Covid hit because I was – I just played for India A one year back, I was not getting the right opportunities, I felt, and I was 28 or 29; for me, if I sat out then, I think I was just playing for India A one year back, I was sitting out, so that was not worth it for me, I felt, at the age of 28-29, so I thought I should explore playing for some other team where I'd get to play the whole season, and I had a good time at Goa, but I always wanted to come back and play for Mumbai again, where the motivation was a bit low at that time.

"I spoke to my coach, Omkar Salvi, and president, Ajinkya Naik, and I had a frank discussion with them about what I feel. Because Mumbai were champions in that year, and next year I wanted to come back and play for Mumbai, so whenever you come back and play for Mumbai, it's always very difficult to make your place in a champion side, so I spoke to them, and some things were exchanged. They were expecting something out of me, which I did during the off-season, and I thought if I got an opportunity, I would get in the second half of the season. 

"I did really well during the off-season games where we played at KSCA and Buchi Babu, and I thought I impressed them again to get an opportunity back at the start of the season, so coming back from Mumbai was always a special feeling for me because if you see the culture and tradition of Mumbai, whenever you play for Mumbai, you feel something special about it, and also we've got a we play a different brand of cricket, and we are the 42-time champions, so a lot of things are involved. Because when you play for Mumbai, you play with that pride, so coming back and doing well for the team was always special for me."

What are your goals with Maratha Royals this season?

"I feel the brand of cricket we've set last year and the culture we've set last year – I just want to get it back this year also and start from scratch. Yes, we know we were the champions last year, but this is cricket; you can't take it lightly.

"As a leader, my only job is to take that responsibility in the team to make the youngsters feel comfortable and get the performance out of them, so we are trying to create that environment in the team where they can come and express themselves, and with that, whatever I can do to help the team. As a leader, I'm trying to do all that I can do."

What pep talk would you give in the dressing room if your team had to chase down a 250-ish target or defend a sub-150 total?

"For me the basics will always be the same, but with that I feel the cricket has changed. Now we've been seeing 250s, which we have. We had never imagined that someone would score 250 in a T20 game, but also with that, we are playing during the monsoon, which will start, so wickets won't be that great, as we see in the IPL. This is what we are predicting right now because last year also, if you saw, there were hardly any games which went to 180 or 200, so wickets will also be difficult.

"Even if it is 250, we've got that belief, and we've done that preparation. We've done those simulations maybe 20-25 times before the tournament, so we know what our strengths are, and even if we want to chase those 250 runs, how are we going to approach it? So this happens in team meetings, one-to-one meetings, talking to the players and giving them that belief that even if it's 250 on that day, we are a team who can chase that; that's a pretty straightforward answer, and I hope that with this changing approach of modern T20 cricket, I obviously believe that the kind of talent that the Mumbai Cricket Association brings out every year, I think we are on track with Mumbai T20."

Which cricketer in the Mumbai team reminds you of your younger self?

"I mean, I've never thought about this, but I think there are a lot of young players in the team – I've said Ayush Mhatre is someone I really like, and I feel that when I was under 19, I was that fearless when I used to play, so he reminds me of myself in the under-19 days."

What advice of Rohit Sharma's has stayed with you forever?

"See, I've always spoken to Rohit about my game, so he's always, you know, fearless in his approach. He doesn't think a lot; you can't really talk to him in detail about anything. He's someone who backs his instinct, who's very natural. talented guy, but mentally I've spoken to him a lot about how I can grow as a batsman and things like that in the off-season, which has helped me in some way."

What, according to you, separates Rohit Sharma the batter versus Rohit Sharma the captain?

"The common thing is he's so calm under pressure. You know, you can see he's a bit aggressive from the outside, but inside, and also outside, you'll see him calm. Other than that, I think he's like a brother to everyone off the field. Also, he has that bonding with everyone that makes him very special. Whenever you talk to someone about Rohit, he's someone who's made everyone comfortable in the team to talk to him outside, so that is very important.

"I feel being a leader is just not on the field; it's how you handle the boys off the field if they have any problems, any mental things or anything other than cricket because there are a lot of things which goes  behind the scenes but we don't know about. So to make boys comfortable off the field is something Rohit has in himself."