Shardul Thakur, Siddhesh Lad named Cricketers of the Year during MCA awards
Shardul Thakur and Siddhesh Lad were named Cricketers of the Year for seasons 2024-25 and 2025-26, respectively, during the MCA Awards ceremony on Wednesday. Thakur and Lad were awarded with Justice Tendolkar Trophy for the best senior cricketer for the 2024-25 and 2025-26 seasons, respectively.
During the ceremony, Mumbai-based players and coaches who have contributed in India’s triumphs in global competitions were also felicitated. Young batter Ayush Mhatre was honoured for leading the Indian U-19 team to a record-extending sixth World Cup title earlier this year in South Africa, along with wicketkeeper-batter Abhigyan Kundu.
India T20I captain Suryakumar Yadav and all-rounder Shivam Dube were honoured for their contributions in the team’s record-extending third T20 World Cup title last month.
Jemimah Rodrigues, India women’s head coach Amol Muzumdar, and bowling coach Aavishkar Salvi were honoured for their contributions to the country’s maiden ODI World Cup win last year.
Sanika Chalke from the Under-19 women’s World Cup-winning squad was also honoured.
“Mumbai’s dominance across domestic cricket in the 2024-25 season was further reinforced as MCA felicitated its champion teams that clinched major titles, including the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, Senior Women’s T20 Trophy, Under-14 West Zone Championship, Under-23 Women’s One-Day Trophy, Vijay Merchant Trophy (Under-16), and the Women’s Under-15 One-Day Trophy, underlining the association’s sustained excellence across age groups and formats,” the MCA said in a release.
The event was attended by the legendary Sunil Gavaskar, Dilip Vengsarkar, Rajeev Kulkarni, Diana Edulji, Maharashtra cabinet ministers Ashish Shelar and Aditi Tatkare, along with MCA president Ajinkya Naik and the governing body’s apex council members. Vengsarkar urged the young players to contribute to Mumbai’s success.
“Mumbai has a strong cricketing ecosystem — from the Harris Shield and Giles Shield to U-19 and inter-collegiate tournaments — which has long served as a supply line for talent,” Vengsarkar said.
“It continues to produce players who are the future of Mumbai and Indian cricket. I hope you all play for India. I am not saying that you shouldn’t play the IPL as it is also important, but you must contribute to Mumbai’s success,” he added.
The ceremony also honoured a few other cricketers and administrators with the Lifetime Achievement Awards.
“Shobha Pandit (cricketer) and Shrikant Tigdi (administrator) were recognised for 2025-26, while Chandrakant Patankar (cricketer) and Ravindra Savant (administrator) were honoured for 2024-”25, celebrating decades of contribution to Mumbai cricket,” MCA said.
“These achievements are not just milestones, but benchmarks for the future. Our focus remains clear: to strengthen this ecosystem, elevate performance, and ensure the next generation carries this legacy forward at an even greater scale,” Naik said.
