Sachin Baby to lead Kerala in the upcoming Ranji Trophy season

The Indian domestic season continues to roll on. The white-ball leg of the 2019-20 season will be done and dusted after the culmination of the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 Trophy finals which is scheduled to be played between two South Indian heavyweights- defending champions Karnataka and 2006-07 champions Tamil Nadu; a re-match of the Vijay Hazare One-day tournament’s final.

But, for the teams that got knocked out in the group or the Super League stage, their focus has now entirely shifted towards the Ranji Trophy- India’s premier First-Class competition. The Ranji Trophy will kickstart from the 9th of December and the state associations have started announcing their squads for the premier red-ball competition. Kerala have named middle-order left-handed batsman Sachin Baby as their skipper for the upcoming First-Class season.

Baby, who had led Kerala to the quarter-final and semi-final stage in the past two Ranji Trophy seasons, was overlooked in favour of Robin Uthappa as far as leading the side was concerned in the domestic white-ball tournaments like Vijay Hazare Trophy and Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 tournament; a move which may have come after Kerala failed to qualify for the Super League stage in the T20 tournament.

Sanju Samson will miss the first game of Kerala’s Ranji Trophy campaign against Delhi

Kerala will miss the services of their star batsman Sanju Samson in their tournament opener against Delhi on December 09 as the swashbuckling wicketkeeper will be on national duty (T20I series against the West Indies). In the absence of  Sanju Samson, Rohan Kunnunmel and S. Midhun have been drafted into the squad for the very first time.

Rohan Prem- a No.3 batsman- participation in the tournament, is subjected to whether he passes the fitness test or not. The team- coached by former Sri Lankan coach, Dave Whatmore, is undergoing a preparatory camp at the St. Xavier’s Stadium Thumba from the past 3-4 days, which also happens to be Kerala’s home venue for the tournament.

Following their tournament opener against Delhi, Kerala will lock horns with Bengal (December 17-20, home) followed by Rajasthan (January 19-22, home) and then will travel to Vizag and Nagpur to face Andhra (January 27-30) and defending champions Vidarbha (February 4-7) respectively.