Mumbai: This is an indication of where things have reached in Indian cricket. Siddhesh Lad is an experienced first-class player. The 34-year-old Mumbai batsman, who has long been known as his team’s ‘crisis man’, made his first-class debut almost 12 years ago in November 2013, and has scored 5623 runs in 82 matches at 44.27@15 with 15 centuries and 30 fifties. Lad scored five centuries – he was the top run-scorer for Mumbai in the 2025–26 Ranji Trophy season with 77.40@774 runs in eight matches. However, the consistent domestic cricket batsman has now lost faith in the Ranji Trophy, from where the national selectors pick India’s potential players.Speaking to TOI on the sidelines of the jersey launch event of T20 Mumbai League defending champions Mumbai South Central Maratha Royals on Thursday, Lad said he firmly believes that it is the performance in the IPL that is considered the only criteria for selection. Season 4 of the T20 Mumbai League starts from Monday at the Wankhede Stadium.Citing the example of Jammu and Kashmir fast bowler Aaqib Nabi, who was the leading wicket-taker in the Ranji Trophy last season with 60 wickets at an average of 12.56 in 10 matches and who helped his team win its maiden title last season, was ignored for the one-off Test against Afghanistan, Lad told this paper, “I think you are 100% right when you say that doing well in the IPL will be a huge boost for the Indian team. The harsh reality is that domestic cricket performance is ignored by the national selectors. Ranji Trophy has been devalued. I will not deny it. I am not saying that I have performed well, so pick me in the Indian team, but I think someone like Auqib Nabi, if he has worked so hard and single-handedly won the Ranji Trophy for Jammu and Kashmir, which is not so easy, has performed exceptionally well in the Ranji Trophy, then he deserves to be selected in the India Test team.Explaining his point further, Lad said, “I mean, IPL players also know how difficult it is to play the entire (Ranji Trophy) season and maintain their fitness. However, nowadays, if you do not perform well in the IPL, or you do not have a good season in the IPL, then your chances of getting into the Indian Test team are less. If you do not play in the IPL, it is difficult for you to move forward (in your career).”Nabi took 44 wickets @ 13.27 in the 2024-25 Ranji Trophy season. Putting into words the bitter truth of Indian cricket, Lad said, “You are giving the wrong message to domestic cricketers that even if you perform well in the Ranji Trophy, it doesn’t make any difference to your cricket career, but if you perform well in a few matches in the IPL, you can make a place in India’s Test team. In the beginning, everyone says, ‘If you perform in the Ranji Trophy, you will play for India, if you don’t perform then you won’t. Will play. But in the end, when we actually see the selection, a lot of things go wrong.In that kind of scenario, would he advise the promising youngsters of the Maratha Royals team to focus on playing and performing well in the T20 Mumbai League and IPL instead of trying to make it to the Mumbai Ranji Trophy team?

“Definitely, I would say so. I wouldn’t deny that if you see that you can play for India after just one season of IPL, something you can’t possibly do after playing Ranji Trophy for a decade, then it means we can’t ask players to focus only on Ranji Trophy. If the player is playing well in the T20 Mumbai League, there is a shortcut for him to play in the IPL later and make a place in the Indian team,” Lad said, adding that it is matter of fact.Being associated with domestic cricket, Lad is hurt by the way things are shaping up in Indian cricket at present. “I have seen many players who have performed exceptionally well in the Ranji Trophy. However, just because they did not get that opportunity in the IPL, they did not get a chance to make the Indian Test team,” Lad lamented.Meanwhile, Lad and Maratha Royals head coach Amit Dani welcomed the availability of Mumbai and Rajasthan Royals fast bowler Tushar Deshpande for Maratha Royals this time, who did not play last season.