Ranji Trophy 2024-25 final – Sachin Baby takes ‘blame’ for Kerala’s heartbreaking loss

Several members of the Kerala team, heartbroken and lost for words, recognised the presence of these young kids in the stands, posing for pictures even as Baby momentarily brought some comic relief at the presentation. “You guys have beaten us in all three knockout stages. Next time, guys, we’ll beat you. We’ll give you a tougher time,” Baby told the Vidarbha team in jest.

“Brain fade,” he said at the post-match press conference, of the slog he dragged to Karun Nair at deep midwicket on 98. The occasion couldn’t have been bigger; a century in his 100th first-class game may have well killed the game. But it wasn’t to be; it was as if they’d run out of luck in the quarter-finals and semi-finals, which they scraped through courtesy leads of one and two runs respectively.

“As the leader, I’ll take the blame,” he said. “My shot changed the momentum of the game. I wanted to be there for the team, and we were six down. I wanted to be there till the end to get the lead. I wanted to have a lead of 100-plus if at all we got a lead. That would have made a difference.”

Baby couldn’t quite explain why he played the slog – it was instinct more than a calculated risk, one that he will perhaps replay in his mind over and over again. “I was playing all along the ground till that moment, but then I don’t know what happened and why I played that shot. But that and the dropped catch of Karun (Nair) were important moments of the game.”

And then he continued. “If I take credit for the success, I will take the blame for failure, too. Nobody plays a shot to get out. That shot was not on my mind, actually. Maybe, it was a brain fade moment. But on this wicket, you had to play shots. If I had played too defensively, there would have been pressure on the team and myself.”

At 36, Baby is the oldest member of this side. He hates the use of the word ‘veteran’ to describe ageing stars. He says he’s never felt fitter – all possible signs of him wanting to continue. But without wanting to make it about him, he continued: “We have to improve still. I was telling the team about how Vidarbha came back from the defeat in last year’s final to win the trophy this year.”