Sanju Samson back in Kerala Ranji Trophy side for 2025-26 season, new captain announced

Kerala made it to the final of the Ranji Trophy last year, for the first time, and a lot is expected from them this time around.

The Kerala Cricket Association revealed its squad for the Ranji Trophy 2025-26 season, with Sanju Samson making a comeback in the squad. Mohammed Azharuddeen will lead the side, why B Aparajith has been named his deputy for the tournament. But in a surprise move, Sachin Baby, who led the team to their maiden Ranji Trophy final, wasn’t considered for the leadership role.

Mohammed Azharudeen Named New Skipper

Meanwhile, the 15-member squad was for the first match against Maharashtra. Basil Thampi, who didn’t attend the preparatory camp, has been dropped from the side. As far as Sanju Samson is concerned, the T20I specialist is slated to miss the next three fixtures though, as he would be in Australia for the white-ball series in Australia.

Sanju Samson Back in Ranji Squad

Overall he has played 65 FC games till now, scoring 3834 runs at an average of 39. That includes 11 hundreds and 16 fifties. He also has a double ton to his name. With the likes of Azharudeen and Salman Nizar doing exceptionally well last year, it remains to be seen, where can Sanju be drafted in the batting order.

Kerala team is part of the Elite Group B, along with Karnataka, Punjab, Saurashtra, Maharastra, MP, Chandigarh and Goa.

Kerala squad: Mohammed Azharuddeen (captain), B. Aparajith (Vice-captain), Sanju V. Samson, Rohan S. Kunnummal, Vathsal Govind, Akshay Chandran, Sachin Baby, Salman Nizar, Ankit Sharma, M.D. Nidheesh, N.P. Basil, Edhen Apple Tom, Ahammed Imran, Shoun Roger and Abhishek P. Nair.