Rohan to lead Kerala in Vijay Hazare; Sanju in squad, Sachin dropped again

Sanju Samson has been included in Kerala's Vijay Hazare Trophy squad to be led by opener Rohan S Kunnummal.

Former captain Sachin Baby, who was dropped from Kerala's Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy squad, has not found a spot again, while Ranji Trophy skipper Mohammed Azharuddeen and reliable middle-order batter Salman Nizar have been retained.

Kerala's matches in Elite Group A will be played in Ahmedabad. The first match is against Tripura on December 24. Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Jharkhand, Puducherry and Tamil Nadu are the other teams in Kerala's group.

Kerala had a modest outing in the recently concluded Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy T20 event, finishing with three wins and four defeats from seven rounds. The Vijay Hazare Trophy is played in the 50-over format.

Sanju was recently named in India's squad for the T20 World Cup to be held next year. Sanju is expected to feature in his favoured opener role for Team India in the absence of Shubman Gill.

Kerala squad: Rohan S Kunnummal, Sanju Samson, Ahammed Imran, Vishnu Vinod, Mohammed Azharuddeen, Salman Nizar, Abhishek J Nair, Krishna Prasad, Akhil Scaria, Abhijith Praveen, Biju Narayanan, Ankit Sharma, Baba Aparajith, Vignesh Puthur, Nidheesh M D, Asif K M, Abhishek P Nair, Sharafuddeen N M, Eden Apple Tom