"I broke down because it was like we had such a big family and we couldn't do it for them. It's the best team I've played for." ©BCCI
In this new Cricbuzz series - Once upon an IPL final - we get some of the younger cricketers to retell tales of an IPL final they were part of. Here we have Sachin Baby reliving his stint with Royal Challengers Bangalore in 2016 and the title that just slipped away.
How do you find a place in the eleven when a side has Virat Kohli, AB de Villiers, KL Rahul, Chris Gayle and Shane Watson? And then the auction brought the likes of Kedar Jadhav, Mandeep Singh, David Wiese and Travis Head into the mix as well. Add to that the additional pressure of competing with Indian talents like Sarfaraz Khan and Mandeep Singh, who had proven themselves in the RCB setup.
So it wasn't a surprise when Sachin Baby went into the 2016 season hoping for at least [and probably at best] a repeat of his stint with Rajasthan Royals in 2013 where he played just four games...
After 2013, I had spent two years away from IPL before joining RCB. I had done well in the domestic season and that was an opening for me. But everyone told me that RCB is a batting-centric team, a high-profile team, so it won't be easy to get a chance in the playing XI. At one stage I also started thinking the same way. I didn't play in the first five games so I also thought let's wait.
Our skipper Virat liked me because of my work ethic and the character that I showed during the session. He came to me and said 'be ready, you'll be getting your chances soon'. I was expecting that call and got