Sachin Baby was unlucky on his Ranji Trophy debut. He had been batting impressively when he was run out for 32, going for a run that wasn’t there.
That was in late 2009, against Andhra, in Thalassery. Some 15 years later, Lady Luck smiled on Sachin, now the Kerala captain, in another Ranji Trophy match.
A deflection off the helmet of Salman Nizar at short leg flew towards slip, where Sachin took the most unforgettable catch of his career and that of the Kerala cricket team. Kerala took the first-innings lead of two runs against Gujarat at Ahmedabad and entered the Ranji Trophy final for the first time ever.
“This the happiest moment of my career,” Sachin told Sportstar over the phone from Ahmedabad on Saturday, a day after the semifinal. “To play the Ranji Trophy final has been my dream for all these years.”
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He has seen from close quarters the transformation Kerala has undergone from underdog to the Ranji Trophy finalist. “A lot of effort has gone into that, and we have had total backing from the Kerala Cricket Association,” he said. “We have gone on exposure tours ahead of the season to countries like Australia and South Africa.
“And we would begin our preparations long before the season started in October. We would begin in July, and when it rained in Kerala, we used to go to Karnataka or somewhere else for our training. The players from other States would ask why our preparation started so early. Another reason for the improvement we made is the infrastructure that the KCA put in place all over the State.”
Sachin said the team was determined to make it to the final this season. “And we all worked hard for that, under the new coach Amay Khurasia. I had told him that we wanted to strengthen the lower order. He agreed with me and we made our bowlers work on their batting, too. And that proved beneficial as our tail made valuable runs at crucial junctures.”
Picking Aditya Sarwate as a professional also proved to be a wise decision. “We wanted someone to support Jalaj Saxena from the other end and Aditya was the right choice, given his vast experience,” said Sachin.
Between them, Jalaj and Sarwate have picked up 68 wickets this season. The leading scorers for Kerala have been Salman Nizar and Mohmmed Azharuddeen. “Their presence bolstered our lower middle-order. Now we are all looking forward to the final against Vidarbha,” said Sachin.
The final will get underway in Nagpur on February 26.