Wicketkeeper-Batter Sanju Samson will be available for Kerala's upcoming matches in the Vijay Hazare Trophy 2024-25. Samson confirmed his readiness for the tournament after being excluded from the squad at first.
Vijay Hazare Trophy is the most prestigious domestic tournament with a history of over 50 years in India. It is an important tournament for Samson as he hunts for a place in India's squad for the 2025 Champions Trophy.
While Samson has confirmed his availability, the Kerala Cricket Association (KCA) is yet to decide whether to include him in the squad or not. KCA Secretary Vinod S Kumar informed about his availability status.
Sanju Samson is available for the upcoming Vijay Hazare Trophy matches
While speaking to The Indian Express, KCA Secretary Vinod S Kumar informed about Sanju Samson's readiness for the rest of the tournament. However, he also stated that the committee is yet to decide on his selection.
“Sanju has told us that he is available for selection for the last two days. We are yet to receive a call about his inclusion. There is a full squad already in Hyderabad and only two matches have been played,” Kumar said.
Vinod S Kumar also informed that senior batsman Sachin Baby is still unavailable as he continues to recover from his injury that occurred during the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy tournament.
Kerala have lost one of the two matches they have played so far. They lost their opening match to Baroda by 62 runs as they posted a massive score of 403 runs in the first innings. The second match against Madhya Pradesh was in exciting mode before rain washed out the match.
Why was Sanju Samson left out of Kerala's squad?
Earlier, Sanju Samson was left out of Kerala's preliminary squad for the Vijay Hazare Trophy as he was not available for the team's pre-tournament preparatory camp. The selectors decided on the team by looking at the camp and left out Samson.
Samson recently led Kerala in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy where he scored 136 runs in five matches at an average of 27.20 and a strike rate of 149.45. However, he made himself unavailable for the team's preparatory camp ahead of the Vijay Hazare Trophy. In his absence, Salman Nisar was appointed as Kerala's captain in the 50-over tournament.
Sanju Samson is eyeing a place in the India Champions Trophy squad
Sanju Samson has been in fantastic form with the bat for India in the T20I format. He has made triple hundreds in his last five T20I matches against Bangladesh and South Africa. All his hundreds came while opening the batting.
If Samson gets a chance in the Vijay Hazare Trophy, he will be gunning for a place in the India Champions Trophy squad which is now just a few months away. He has a good ODI record with 510 runs in 16 matches at an average of 56.66 and a strike rate of 99.60.
His maiden ODI hundred came during India's tour of South Africa when he smashed an unbeaten 108 to lead his team to a 78-run win over the hosts.