Udaipur, November 11: Star batsman Sanju Samson will once again take on a leadership role in a domestic tournament as he has been appointed the captain of Kerala for the upcoming Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. Samson will lead the 18-member Kerala team, with the tournament set to commence on November 24. This will mark his return to the field for Kerala since January, having last played in the Vijay Hazare Trophy against Puducherry. He was also part of the team that won the T20 World Cup in March, where he delivered some outstanding performances in the knockout stages.

Samson Takes Command Again

Recently, Sanju Samson was part of the Indian team that participated in the Asian Games, where they clinched the gold medal by defeating Pakistan in the final. He also featured in the five-match T20 series during India’s tour of New Zealand, which India won 3-2. Kerala will kick off their campaign in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy against Madhya Pradesh at the PCA Stadium in Mohali. Both teams are part of Group C, which also includes Andhra, Assam, Himachal Pradesh, Maharashtra, Puducherry, and Tripura.

Last season, Samson led the team but they finished fourth in Elite Group A and did not progress to the next stage. Nevertheless, he had an impressive performance, scoring 233 runs in six innings with a strike rate of 137.86, making him the second-highest run-scorer for Kerala that season. Recently, he made a significant leap in the latest ICC T20 International rankings, moving up six places to enter the top 20. The team also includes red-ball captain Vishnu Vinod and former captain Mohammad Azharuddin. Experienced spinner Jalaj Saxena has been selected as well, making a return to the team ahead of the Ranji Trophy campaign.

Kerala’s Team for Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy

Sanju V Samson (Captain, Wicketkeeper), Rohan S Kunnummal, Mohammad Azharuddin (Wicketkeeper), Ahmed Imran, Govind Dev D Pai, Krishna Devan R J, Vishnu Vinod (Wicketkeeper), Salman Nizar, Akhil Skaria, Nikhil M, Vignesh Puthur, Jalaj Saxena, Biju Narayanan N, Karthik B Nair, Sharafudheen N M, Vaisakh Chandran, Asif K M, Nidhish M D