India’s top order Sanju Samson has been sidelined from Kerala’s squad for the upcoming Vijay Hazare Trophy after he failed to participate in the preparation camp before the tournament.
Samson led the Kerala squad for the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2024-25 where they missed out on qualifying for the knockouts. Kerala won four of six matches in the tournament.
KSCA selection committee chairman J Abhiram said that they have realised to move on the players of old and bring in youngsters.
Samson has been originally been named in the 30-member probable list, now finds himself out of the 19-member long list.
Samson had written to the association stating his unavailability for the camp, but the KCA has decided to stick to its original decision. With senior batter Sachin Baby also unavailable due to injury he picked up during SMAT, batter Salman Nizar has been named as the captain for the 50-over competition.
Sanju Samson had a fresh off two T20I centuries on the tour of South Africa, played in five of Kerala’s six games at SMAT, scoring 135 runs including one half-century.
Kerala Squad: Salman Nizar (c), Rohan Kunnummal, Shoun Roger, Mohammed Azharudden (wk), Anand Krishnan, Krishna Prasad, Jalaj Saxena, Aditya Sarwate, Sijomon Joseph, Basil Thampi, Basil Np, Nidheesh MD, Eden Apple Tom, Sharafuddeen, Akhil Scaria, Vishweshwar Suresh, Vaishak Chandran, Ajnas M (wk).
Meanwhile, Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA) also confirmed that senior batter Manish Pandey will miss the upcoming Vijay Hazare Trophy since the association has decided to give chances to youngsters.
“We as an association have realised that we need to move on from the players of old and bring in new blood. We cannot live in past glory,” said Abhiram.
Karnataka squad: Mayank Agarwal (c), Shreyas Gopal (vc), S Nikin Jose, KV Aneesh, R Smaran, KL Shrijith, Abhinav Manohar, Hardik Raj, Vyshak Vijaykumar, Vasuki Koushik, Vidyadhar Patil, Kishan Bedare, Abhilash Shetty, Manoj Bhandage, Pravin Dubey, Luvnith Sisodia
Kerala will play their first match against Baroda on December 23 at Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium.
Also Read: Vijay Hazare Trophy 2024-25 Squad, Teams Players List
