Sachin wishes to emulate Tendulkar in Irani Cup after guiding Kerala to Ranji Trophy final

Captain Sachin Baby made a wish after guiding Kerala to the final of the Ranji Trophy for the first time. "I told the boys, 'Guys, I really wish to go out for the toss in the Irani Cup. Please make it happen'," Sachin told Onmanorama.

The skipper's message to his teammates was clear: Let's win the Ranji Trophy. Kerala knocked out Gujarat in the Ranji Trophy semifinals in Ahmedabad on Friday and will take on Vidarbha in the final at Nagpur starting February 26.

The team that wins the Ranji Trophy will qualify for the Irani Cup, a prestigious one-off first-class match played against the Rest of India (RoI) squad assembled from the other participating states.

Over the years, a few Malayali players have represented RoI squads in the Irani Cup. Former international S Sreesanth was part of the Irani-winning RoI squad in 2013, while Rohan Kunnummal won the Cup in 2023-24. Sandeep Warrier featured as a reserve player a few seasons ago.

But no Kerala player has captained a side in the Irani Cup because Kerala has never won the Ranji Trophy, let alone qualified for the final. Sachin aims to join an elite list of captains comprising Sunil Gavaskar, Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Anil Kumble, Gautam Gambhir, and Ajinkya Rahane, among others, to lead their teams in the Irani Cup.

Tendulkar captained Bombay to victory in the 1995 Irani Trophy against a RoI side, while Rahane led Mumbai to victory last season. "I have worked so hard all these years. I have done my best for Kerala cricket, and it would be an honour to do that (lead Kerala in the Irani Cup)," said 36-year-old Sachin.

'We were 40-50 runs short'
"A few seasons ago, we clinched a last-wicket win at Kaloor (Kochi). But that was a (Ranji) league game. Here, the pressure was totally different because this was the knockout stage. Still, every member of the side gave their best. I'm really proud of each and every one of them," Sachin said after Kerala snatched a dramatic 2-run lead in the first innings of the semifinals before securing a draw.

Mohammed Azharuddeen's brilliant 177 not out was the highlight of Kerala's first innings score of 457. However, Kerala's sub-par run rate had come under the scanner after Gujarat came agonisingly close to taking the lead on the fifth day. Kerala batted 89 overs on the first day, making a modest 206/4 at a run rate of 2.31. On Day 2, Kerala continued to bat slowly and made 212 more, going at a rate of 2.40 per over.

"We should take the surface into consideration. It was not an easy wicket to bat on. If you look at the average scores at the venue, it was around 210 daily. The plan was to last seven sessions. We could not complete the seventh session, so I believe we were 40 or 50 runs short," Sachin said.