Sanju Samson will lead Kerala in the upcoming Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, beginning November 26. Fresh off headlines from his IPL trade – moving from Rajasthan Royals to Chennai Super Kings – Samson now returns to domestic action as Kerala’s captain ahead of the IPL auction.
His brother, Sally Samson, has also been named in the squad. The siblings previously played together in the Kerala Cricket League, where Sally captained the Kochi Blue Tigers in Season 2.
The Kerala squad additionally features Ahmed Imran as vice-captain, along with Vignesh Puthur and Vishnu Vinod, both of whom have IPL experience with the Mumbai Indians. Star KCL bowler Akhil Skaria – league’s top wicket-taker over the last two seasons – has also been included. Notably, Sachin Baby misses out on selection this time.
Kerala has been drawn into Group A, alongside Chandigarh, Odisha, Vidarbha, Railways, Andhra Pradesh, and Mumbai. Samson’s team opens their campaign against Odisha on November 26, with all their group matches scheduled in Lucknow. Some squad members will depart for Lucknow on November 23, while others will join from Indore following Kerala’s Ranji Trophy fixture against Madhya Pradesh.
After failing to progress past the group stage last season, Kerala will hope for a turnaround under Samson’s leadership.
Kerala Squad: Sanju Samson (captain & wicketkeeper), Rohan Kunnummal, Mohammad Azharuddin, Ahmed Imran (vice-captain), Vishnu Vinod (wicketkeeper), Krishna Dewan, Abdul Bajith, Sally Samson, Salman Nizar, Krishna Prasad, Sibin P Girish, Ankit Sharma, Akhil Scaria, Biju Narayanan, Asif KM, MD Nidheesh, Vignesh Puthur, Sharafuddeen NM.
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