Sachin Baby will lead Kerala in the Ranji Trophy this season. The experienced batter was removed as captain following a disastrous 2019-20 season with seasoned all-rounder Jalaj Saxena being handed over the reins in the final phase of group stage action.
Wicketkeeper-batter Vishnu Vinod has been named Sachin's deputy. Sanju Samson had captained Kerala in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy T20 and Vijay Hazare Trophy one-day competition. Kerala fell in the quarterfinals of both events.
Veteran pacer S Sreesanth has been included in the 24-member preliminary squad. The 38-year-old is making a return to red-ball cricket after a gap of nearly nine years. Sreesanth last played a first-class match in 2013 when he featured in the Irani Cup for Rest of India against Mumbai.
Sreesanth, who made a comeback to the game last season after serving a seven-year suspension for his alleged involvement in the 2013 IPL spot-fixing scam, had opted out of the Mushtaq Ali Trophy and Hazare Trophy.
Robin Uthappa, who is yet to regain fitness, has not been included in the probables list. Varun Nayanar is the second stumper, while Mohammed Azharuddeen has been overlooked.
The preliminary camp will be held at Krishnagiri in Wayanad from Thursday.
Kerala have been placed in Elite Group B along with Bengal, Vidarbha, Rajasthan, Haryana and Tripura.
Kerala's matches will be held in Bengaluru. They take on Vidarbha in their opening match on January 13, 2022.
Probables: Sachin Baby (capt), Vishnu Vinod (vice-capt & wk), Anand Krishnan, Rohan Kunnumal, Vatsal Govind, Rahul P, Salman Nizar, Sanju Samson, Jalaj Saxena, Sijomon Joseph, Akshay K C, Mithun S, Basil N P, Nideesh M D, Manu Krishnan, Basil Thampi, Fanoos F, S Sreesanth, Akshay Chandran, Varun Nayanar (wk), Anand Joseph, Vinoop Manoharan, Arun M, Vaishak Chandran.
