Sanju Samson has been named the captain of the Kerala cricket team for the upcoming Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2024-25, scheduled to be held from November 23 to December 15.
The Kerala Cricket Association announced the 18-member squad and three reserves for the tournament on Tuesday.
Into its 17th edition, the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy is India's premier domestic T20 competition. All 38 Ranji teams will be in action this season and have been divided into five groups - three with eight teams each and two with seven teams each - for the preliminary round.
After round-robin matches, the top two from each group advance to the knockouts. Kerala are in Group E along with Andhra Pradesh, Goa, Nagaland, Services and former champions Maharashtra and Mumbai.
Kerala will kick off their campaign against the Services on November 23. The Gymkhana Ground and Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium will host all the Group E matches.
Sanju Samson, retained by the Rajasthan Royals for Indian Premier League 2025, will be looking to lead Kerala to their maiden Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy title this year. The 30-year-old will head into the tournament in great form, having scored three centuries in his last five T20I outings for the Indian cricket team.
Since registering his maiden T20I ton against Bangladesh in Hyderabad last month, Sanju Samson notched up two more in the four-match away series against South Africa. He is the only player in the world to have scored three T20I centuries in the same calendar year.
Only Rohit Sharma (5) and Suryakumar Yadav (4) have scored more T20I centuries in an India shirt than Samson.
The Kerala squad for the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2024-25 also includes experienced campaigners like Sachin Baby, Rohan Kunnummal and Jalaj Saxena. Vishnu Vinod and Basil Thampi are also in the team.
Kerala Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2024-25 team
Kerala cricket team: Sanju Samson (captain), Sachin Baby, Rohan Kunnummal, Jalaj Saxena, Vishnu Vinod, Mohd. Azharudeen, Basil Thampi, S Nizar, Abdul Basith, A Scaria, Ajnas EM, Sijomon Joseph, Midhun S, Vaisakh Chandran, Vinod Kumar CV, Basil NP, Sharafudeen NM, Nidheesh MD, Varun Nayanar (reserve), Shoun Roger (reserve), Abhishek J Nair (reserve)
