Sanju Samson joined the Kerala cricket team on October 15. Just three days after scoring his maiden T20I hundred for India, the star batter had decided to help Kerala qualify for the quarterfinals of the Ranji Trophy 2024-25 season. Having missed Kerala’s season opener against Punjab, Samson made himself available against Karnataka at the Alur Cricket Stadium.
Why isn’t Sanju Samson Kerala Ranji Trophy captain?
Sachin Baby was leading the side in the previous game, which Kerala won by beating Punjab by 8 wickets at the St. Xavier’s College Ground in Trivandrum. However, everyone assumed that Samson would take over the reins. He was Kerala’s captain last season, and it seemed obvious that he’d lead the team. But that’s not the case.
Sachin Baby will continue to lead Kerala. The reason behind this decision is Samson’s potential unavailability in the coming matches. The wicketkeeper batter is likely to be included in India’s T20I squad for the South Africa tour, which commences on November 8. That means he might play against Bengal (October 26-29) but would miss the next two matches against Uttar Pradesh (November 6-9) and Haryana (November 13-16).
Samson strengthens Kerala
It wasn’t just Samson who joined the side; pacer Basil NP was also added to Kerala’s squad before the match. The star batter’s return means Mohammed Azharuddeen will have to sit out. Placed in Elite Group C, Samson’s return bodes well for Kerala. The keeper batter has been in great touch. Samson scored a hundred in his last first-class match, and although entirely different format, his century against Bangladesh in Hyderabad will give him confidence as well.
Prasidh Krishna and Vijaykumar Vyshak will test Kerala in Alur, and having Samson alongside Sachin Baby, Baba Aparajith, and Rohan Kunnummal will massively improve their chances of victory.
Kerala’s Ranji Trophy 2024-25 squad
Sanju Samson (wk), Sachin Baby (c), Mohammed Azharuddeen (wk), Vishnu Vinod (wk), KM Asif, Basil Thampi, Baba Aparajith, Jalaj Saxena, Aditya Sarwate, MD Nidheesh, Akshay Chandran, Fazil Fanoos, Vathsal Govind, Krishna Prasad, Rohan Kunnummal, Salman Nizar, Basil NP
Karnataka’s Ranji Trophy 2024-25 squad
Nikin Jose, Mayank Agarwal(c), Devdutt Padikkal, Smaran R, Manish Pandey, Shreyas Gopal, Sujay Sateri(w), Hardik Raj, Vijaykumar Vyshak, Vasuki Koushik, Prasidh Krishna, Luvnith Sisodia, Vidyadhar Patil, Kishan Bedare, Abhilash Shetty, Mohsin Khan
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