Starting on November 26, Sanju Samson will captain Kerala in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy (SMAT) 2025–2026. The star wicketkeeper-batter will now captain his state team in the domestic Twenty20 competition. He recently transferred from Rajasthan Royals (RR) to Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in the Indian Premier League (IPL).
Saly Samson, his older brother who used to play with Sanju in the Kerala Cricket League (KCL), has joined him in the team.
Earlier this year, Saly led the Kochi Blue Tigers to triumph in KCL Season 2. In the top domestic T20 league, SMAT, the brother pair will now wear the Kerala shirt together.
Ahammed Imran, a young hitter who made an impression with the Thrissur Titans in the KCL, was elected vice-captain alongside the Samson brothers.
Along with Vishnu Vinod and Vignesh Puthur, a former Mumbai Indians (MI) player, the squad also includes Salman Nizar, who has been listed but is awaiting fitness clearance. The Kerala team also has Akhil Scaria, who has taken the most wickets in the last two KCL seasons. Sachin Baby, a seasoned campaigner, has been excluded.
Kerala, Chandigarh, Odisha, Vidarbha, Railways, Andhra Pradesh, and Mumbai are all in Group A. All of their group-stage games are set to take place in Lucknow, and they will begin their campaign against Odisha on November 26. On November 23, some players will fly to Lucknow, while others will join from Indore, where Kerala’s most recent Ranji encounter was against Madhya Pradesh.
After finishing second in their group with just eight points from five games, Kerala, the runners-up from the previous season, has had a dismal start to the Ranji Trophy 2025–26. The team’s goal as they get ready for the SMAT 2025 is to turn things around and have a significant influence during the Indian domestic season’s white-ball phase.
Kerala’s SMAT 2025 squad
Sanju Samson (C & WK), Rohan Kunnummal,Ahammed Imran (VC), Mohammed Azharuddeen, Vishnu Vinod (WK), Krishna Devan, Abdul Bazith, Saly Samson, Salman Nizar, Krishna Prasad, Sibin P Gireesh, Ankit Sharma, Akhil Scaria, Biju Narayanan, Asif KM, MD Nidheesh, Vignesh Puthur, Sharafuddeen NM
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