Kerala equally good in white and red-ball cricket: Captain Sachin Baby

Captain Sachin Baby has said it was time Kerala's potential as serious red-ball cricketers was recognised after their incredible match-saving effort in the quarterfinals of the Ranji Trophy against Jammu & Kashmir in Pune.

At a time when even Test cricket matches don't last beyond day four, Kerala batters survived the entire fifth day to secure a draw. They advanced to the semifinals by virtue of a precious 1-run lead from the first innings. Kerala batters displayed brilliant technique, and more importantly, the right attitude to play a five-dayer.

"We are often branded as good white-ball cricketers. But this result shows that we are equally good in red-ball cricket," captain Sachin Baby told Onmanorama over the phone from Pune.

Kerala are regarded as a quality side in T20 cricket. In recent years, they have produced a series of noteworthy performances in the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 Tournament by advancing to the knockout stages a few times. Kerala famously upset a star-studded Mumbai in the latest edition of the domestic T20 event in November. Despite a dismal outing in the recent Vijay Hazare Trophy (50-over), Kerala have made the knockouts of the competition a few times in recent years.  

However, Kerala have not had consistent success in the Ranji Trophy, the premier red-ball domestic event in India. Kerala reached the knockouts for consecutive seasons in the pre-COVID era. Kerala's last entry to the semifinals of the Ranji Trophy came in 2018-19, again under Sachin's captaincy.

This time, the odds were higher in the quarterfinal contest. Chasing a massive target of 399, Kerala were 100/2 at stumps on the penultimate day and needed another 299 to win on the final day. The Kerala camp knew trying to chase that down would be risky, so they decided to go for the draw and survived 90 overs on the final day, losing just four more wickets.

"The Kerala Cricket Association has repeatedly told us that we have the potential to aim for the Ranji title. We made the quarterfinals and semifinals in back to back seasons a few years ago and now we are in the semifinals again. We came close before, and now we have a chance to do it again," Sachin said.

"Our recent performances show that the time and resources invested by the KCA into our collective dream have been worth it. We are thankful to the president, secretary and every official in our association, who has been supportive throughout," said the skipper. Kerala played almost the entire Ranji campaign without their only active international, Sanju Samson, who is currently injured.

Confidence and faith
Sachin said the Kerala dugout had been extremely nervous throughout the day, but there was plenty of confidence in the individuals.

Sachin led by example with a brilliant partnership of 58 runs with Akshay Chandran that consumed 259 deliveries, including the entire first session (46 runs from 186 balls). Sachin also held a second notable partnership with Jalaj Saxena (31 off 82) before Salman Nizar and Mohammed Azharuddeen (partnership of 115 off 257) came up with the final act of defiance to get the job done.

"When we came out to bat, we knew it was important to hold out the first couple of hours when the pacers could do some damage. Akshay and I have played some really good partnerships in the past and I kept reminding him about that when we were in the middle.

"He (Akshay) is great in such situations, and personally, I wasn't getting many runs of late, so facing all those deliveries did a great deal of good to my confidence," Sachin said. The skipper had been sidelined with an injury throughout Kerala's Vijay Hazare (50-over) campaign and only returned for the Ranji match against Madhya Pradesh in Thiruvananthapuram on January 23. However, he could only make nine runs from three previous innings. Today, the seasoned left-hander made 48 from 162 deliveries, of which 136 were dot balls, a precious commodity considering the situation.

"Then, with Azhar and Salman, we knew we had a solid pair out there. Salman is in fabulous form, and Azhar has done quite well in similar situations, especially in the Madhya Pradesh game (68). Of course, the dugout was nervous throughout the day, but there was a great deal of confidence in the individuals as well," Sachin said.

Kerala will play Gujarat in the first semifinals in Ahmedabad, while Vidarbha and Mumbai play in the second semifinals in Nagpur; both matches will begin on February 17.