Lad unbeaten 80 guides Mumbai to 249 for five on Ranji Trophy opening day

Mumbai captain Siddhesh Lad remained unbeaten on 80 as Mumbai finished the first day of their Ranji Trophy match against Chandigarh on 249 for five at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on October 10, 2026.

Lad was making his debut as Mumbai’s full-time Ranji Trophy captain and produced a patient, composed innings (80 n.o., 176b, 8x4) that, alongside Musheer Khan’s 65 (149b, 4x4), helped the hosts recover from an early setback on a pitch described as having a greenish tinge. Chandigarh captain Manan Vohra won the toss and elected to field. The early breakthrough arrived when Jagjit Singh Sandhu removed Test opener Yashasvi Jaiswal in his second over.

Jaiswal was drawn into a false drive and was caught at second slip to leave Mumbai one down almost immediately. That early wicket set the tone for a period in which the visitors’ seamers extracted movement and the batting side had to rebuild.

Ayush Mhatre and Musheer Khan formed the principal rebuilding partnership; Mhatre scored 48 off 82 balls (7x4, 1x6) after taking 12 deliveries to get off the mark and struck three boundaries in one over — two drives and a cut — when Jagjit erred. Musheer employed an unorthodox defensive technique and made 65 as the pair steadied the innings.

Lad and Musheer adopted an ultra-defensive approach through much of the second session before Rohit Dhanda disrupted the momentum, taking two wickets late in the session. Musheer poked at a delivery outside off and was caught behind, and Sarfaraz Khan was adjudged leg-before to Dhanda, leaving Mumbai at 144 for four.

Akash Anand provided brief resistance, scoring 22, before left-arm spinner Nishunk Birla removed him after extracting turn in the final session. Lad began to open up in the last half-hour and Shams Mulani joined him, both batting freely to take Mumbai to stumps without further loss.

The scores: Mumbai — 1st innings: Yashasvi Jaiswal c Bhambri b Jagjit 0, Ayush Mhatre b Dhanda 48, Musheer Khan c Rana b Dhanda 65, Siddhesh Lad (batting) 80, Sarfaraz Khan lbw b Dhanda 1, Akash Anand c Arslan b Birla 22, Shams Mulani (batting) 27; Extras (b-1, w-1, nb-4): 6; Total (for five wkts. in 84 overs): 249. Fall of wickets: 1-1, 2-77, 3-142, 4-144, 5-184. Chandigarh bowling: Jagjit 18-4-53-1, Dhanda 15-4-44-3, Bawa 12-5-32-0, Birla 20-0-64-1, Kashyap 18-0-53-0, Azad 1-0-2-0.

Play ended on day one with Mumbai 249 for five after 84 overs at the Wankhede Stadium.