Kerala has named a 20-man squad for the upcoming Ranji Trophy tournament. Sachin Baby, 33, who made his first-class debut in November 2009, will lead the team, with wicketkeeper-batsman Vishnu Vinod playing as his partner.
Sanju Samson was not included in the Kerala Cricket Association's stated team since he is currently receiving recovery at the National Cricket Academy (NCA). Once he is totally fit, Samson is likely to join the team.
Sreesanth, who won the ICC T20 World Cup in 2007 and the ICC Cricket World Cup in 2011, has been selected to the state's Ranji Trophy squad. The 39-year-old pacer last played for Kerala in the Vijay Hazare Trophy quarter-final match against Karnataka in Delhi in 2020-21.
Meanwhile, Mohammed Azharuddeen, a 27-year-old opener who is the first Kerala batsman to achieve a T20 century, has been left out. Anand Krishnan, Fanoos F, Varun Nayanar, and Eden Apple Tom are among the four new faces in the Kerala squad.
Kerala performed poorly past the league stage in the previous edition of the tournament. They only won one of the eight games they played, losing five and drawing the other two.
Kerala will begin their 2022 Ranji Trophy campaign on February 17th, in the Elite-A division. In Rajkot, the team will face Meghalaya, Gujarat, and Madhya Pradesh.