Shardul Thakur and Siddhesh Lad were honoured as “Cricketers of the Year” by the Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA), with the awards presented at a ceremony held on Wednesday. Lad received the Justice Tendulkar Trophy for the Best Senior Cricketer in the 2025-26 season, while Thakur was named for the 2024-25 campaign.
The function drew a host of prominent guests, including former India batters Sunil Gavaskar, Dilip Vengsarkar, Rajeev Kulkarni and Diana Edulji. State Cabinet Ministers Ashish Shelar and Aditi Tatkare also attended, while MCA president Ajinkya Naik presided over the proceedings.
Mumbai’s World Cup heroes and India’s youth champions recognised
- The MCA felicitated Ayush Mhatre, who played a key role in guiding India to the title at the Under-19 Men’s World Cup.
- Suryakumar Yadav, along with Shivam Dube, was honoured for their achievements with the Men’s T20 World Cup-winning side.
- Sanika Chalke was recognised from the Under-19 Women’s World Cup-winning group.
- Abhigyan Kundu received recognition from the Under-19 Men’s World Cup-winning squad.
- Jemimah Rodrigues, Amol Muzumdar, and Aavishkar Salvi were also honoured for their contributions connected to the Women’s World Cup-winning contingent.
In addition to individual recognition, the MCA also celebrated its championship teams that lifted major trophies. These included winners of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, the Senior Women’s T20 Trophy, the Under-14 West Zone Championship, the Under-23 Women’s One-Day Trophy, the Vijay Merchant Trophy (Under-16), and the Women’s Under-15 One-Day Trophy—highlighting the association’s depth of talent across age groups and formats.
Lifetime Achievement Awards for Mumbai stalwarts
- Lifetime Achievement Awards were presented to Shobha Pandit (Cricketer) and Shrikant Tigdi (Administrator) for the 2025-26 year.
- For the 2024-25 year, Chandrakant Patankar (Cricketer) and Ravindra Savant (Administrator) were honoured.
Speaking at the event, MCA president Ajinkya Naik said the evening reflected the benchmark Mumbai cricket sets for itself—“uncompromising excellence, built on legacy and driven by relentless ambition.” He added that the accomplishments were not just celebrations but standards for what comes next, stressing the association’s intention to strengthen the local cricket ecosystem, raise performance levels, and ensure the next generation carries the same legacy forward “at an even greater scale.” Naik also congratulated all awardees for continuing to uphold the highest traditions of Mumbai cricket.
