Preparation, Patience And A Pinch Of Good Fortune: Sachin Baby On Kerala's Ranji Trophy Fairytale | Exclusive
Kerala now stands one step away from bringing the Ranji Trophy to ‘God’s Own Country’ and the skipper, Sachin Baby talks about what’s gone right for the side to put them in this position.
A twist of fate for the ages may have just ignited a whole new cricketing wave in ‘God’s Own Country,’ as a black swan event completely turned the tides as Kerala took the first-innings lead against Gujarat by just two runs, giving them the edge to bat through what was left of the final day to secure their date with destiny; a historic first Ranji Trophy final.
Gujarat’s Arzan Nagwaswalla smashed a delivery of Aditya Sarwate which struck the helmet of Salman Nizar who was standing at short-leg and the deflection fell into the hands of the Kerala captain, Sachin Baby who was standing at the slip cordon as the team celebrated what was the game-changing moment that will stand the test of time in Kerala’s cricketing history.
related stories
But this is just one instance that panned out positively for Kerala. To reach this situation, however, the side had to overcome a series of hurdles. One was the Keralites’ fightback in the first innings after losing their top order for just 86 runs.
The skipper walked into bat and steadied the ship with a mindful knock, scoring 69 in 195 balls and leading the charge as the middle-order put Kerala back in the contest as they finished with 457 on the board. Sachin’s knock certainly lit the spark for a comeback, but it was Kasargod’s wicketkeeper-batter, Mohammed Azharuddeen’s 177 that set the stage for what was to come later.
Patience was the key in the first innings, something Sachin regularly communicated with his batting partners, Jalaj Saxena and Azharuddeen. With five days of playing time, Sachin looked to make the most of their vast experience in the domestic scene.
“In that situation, I thought that it was a five-day game so we had plenty of time we could spend in the middle. We were thinking of playing at least seven sessions and for that, we needed big partnerships as well. If that did not happen, we knew we were in trouble, so we played it patiently and targeted a 500+ score," Sachin Baby shared in a telephonic interview with News18 CricketNext, reflecting on the situation after the top-order collapse.
“But it was not an easy track to bat on, if we look at what’s happened there before, an average score per day is somewhere around the 200-run mark. We knew what we were coming against here. It was me and Jalaj (Saxena) then him and Azhar, Azhar and Salman and then the rest of the batters as well," he added.
Kerala’s run to the final has had impressive performances against some of the better sides in the competition with some luck going in their favour. From beating Punjab and Madhya Pradesh, the side has also shown their grit in some hard-fought draws against Jammu and Kashmir in the quarterfinal along with the washout game against Karnataka.
Despite some of the results going their way and the team coming together as a collective, there has not been a major change in their preparations as well. Sachin talked about how Kerala has performed well in the white-ball competitions, and it was just another day in the office for his team in this year’s first-class season where the focus was always playing to win.
“Every year we do play to reach the top but this year we had a lot of luck factor as well with the team and everything came together when I look back. In the last five years, we have played very well in the white-ball setup as well. In the last eight white-ball tournaments we qualified. To get into the quarters or semis is a big stage for us this year as well. But every year we come in to win," Sachin shared.
Focus On Discipline And Extracting The Best Out Of Their Stars
As a captain, Sachin holds a lot of discipline even in the small aspects of day-to-day actions. From arriving to the ground on time to enforcing proper dress code, making sure each member of the team can consistently do the hard yards is a big focus he holds when leading the state side. But in addition to all this is to come into preparation with the belief in themselves and their abilities.
“For any team that I lead the first thing I ensure is that they have the discipline. This is for things like timings, and dress code, I make sure all this happens. Next would be to make sure that there is immense belief in the team and everyone that plays a part in it. I think it is working," he shared.
He also emphasised the importance of preparing as per the need of the format. In the case of the first-class scenario, he took the example of Azharuddeen and how he has improved his game to suit the needs of the longer format. Sachin praised how the batter was able to curb his instinct, keeping his shots to the ground which then allowed him to go on and register a score of 177 in the process.
“Players like Azharuddeen like to go at it in an instant. If the ball comes in the arc then he likes to go over the top for a six. But in the last innings, till he got to his 100, he did not play a single shot in the air, that just shows how he has grown and can play the long game as well," Sachin commented.
“Salman Nizar as well has been doing this for quite some time. We saw that against MP, Bihar, and J&K so consistency is very important and very happy for them and what they are doing," he added.
The Kerala captain also made sure to credit the appointment of Amay Khuresia as the Head Coach. The former India cricketer was appointed for the role prior to the start of the season and his addition has seen the side, step up their game, getting the best out of their star players.
“He (Amay Khuresia) is someone who believes in hard work. Even in our off-season camps, he makes sure that everyone puts in the work making sure all the batters and bowlers spend enough time in the nets. Even the support staff like our trainer, fielding coach and others have taken part and their efforts have helped us very well," Sachin revealed.
Now the stage is set as they now are up against last year’s runners-up, Vidarbha led by the domestic star, Karun Nair, who coincidentally also has Malayalee roots running in his family. Under him, the side is undoubtedly the favourites, but Kerala will look to muster up their strength one last time to see if they can create history. Together with the many fans along with the stars of old in support, Sachin will hope that he can lead Kerala to a historic first title.
- Location :
- First Published: