Kerala captain Sachin Baby became the highest-run scorer for the state in Ranji Trophy, achieving the feat during the fifth-round match against Haryana in Lahli on Wednesday.
The 35-year-old Baby surpassed the record held by former Kerala opener Rohan Prem who had amassed 5396 runs in 99 matches. Baby reached the milestone when he crossed 15 runs against Haryana in a top-of-the-table Group C contest.
Last week, left-handed Baby fell short of his 15th Ranji Trophy century for Kerala, falling on 83 against Uttar Pradesh in Thumba. No batter has scored more Ranji Trophy tons than Baby.
Baby has been among the most consistent batters since the 2022-23 season, scoring 1660 runs 25 innings at a stunning 77-plus average. Baby also scored seven centuries in this period. Baby has made 94 of his 95 first-class appearances for Kerala, with a solitary appearance representing South Zone in the Duleep Trophy final last year.
All format top-scorer
Baby, who made his Kerala debut in the 2009-10 season, is interestingly now the top run-getter for the state across all three formats. Baby leads the charts in the List A 50-over format, aggregating 2826 runs in 85 matches with four centuries and a 41.55 average.
The southpaw is also Kerala’s leading T20 run-scorer, havng compiled 1781 runs in 70 innings with 10 half-centuries.
Leading up to the Ranji Trophy season, Baby also led the Aries Kollam Sailors to the title in the inaugural edition of Kerala Cricket League, the T20 franchise cricket tournament launched by the Kerala Cricket Association (KCA) in September 2024.
Sachin clinched took the orange cap for the leading run-getter in the KCL, with 528 runs from 12 matches. He was also the architect of the Kollam team’s win in the final, scoring an unbeaten 105 in a 214-run chase.
