India wicketkeeper batter Sanju Samson will lead Kerala in the upcoming season of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy (SMAT). The T20 tournament is scheduled to start from November 23 and the final will take place on December 15.
The teams are divided into five groups. Groups A, B, and C consist of eight teams and on the other hand, D and E have seven teams.
Samson was recently featured for India in the four-T20Is series against South Africa. He was one of the best performers for Men in Blue against the Proteas. The 30-year-old wicketkeeper batter smashed two centuries which helped India to clinch a 3-1 win.
Kerala is slotted in Group E in the Mushtaq Ali Trophy, which will start from November 23. All of Kerala's group-stage matches will be played in Hyderabad as their campaign commences against Services on the opening day.
This will be Samson's first domestic tournament since Duleep Trophy where he represented India D.
Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2024 Groups:
Group A:
Bengal, Punjab, Bihar, Rajasthan, Hyderabad, Meghalaya, Madhya Pradesh, Mizoram
Group B:
Baroda, Gujarat, Karnataka, Uttarakhand, Saurashtra, Sikkim, Tamil Nadu, Tripura
Group C:
Arunachal Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Manipur, Jammu and Kashmir, Jharkhand
Group D:
Assam, Railways, Chandigarh, Puducherry, Vidarbha, Odisha, Chhattisgarh
Group E:
Goa, Mumbai, Kerala, Services, Maharashtra, Nagaland, Andhra
Kerala squad for the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2024/25: Sanju Samson (c), 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, and Nidheesh MD.T
The squad named above sees the senior players - Samson, Sachin Baby, Rohan Kunnummal, and Jalaj Saxena - retain their place in the squad with Vishnu Vinod, Mohammed Azharudeen, Basil Thampi and Abdul Basith also being present.
