NE SPORTS BUREAU
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, DEC 27
Veteran Kerala speedster S Sreesanth has been included in the team’s 24-member preliminary squad for the upcoming Ranji Trophy. The 38-year-old, if selected to the final squad, will be marking his return to red-ball cricket after a gap of nearly nine years.
S Sreesanth last played a first-class match in 2013 when he featured in the Irani Cup for the Rest of India against Mumbai. The player had been out of action for seven years after he was handed in a suspension for his alleged involvement in the 2013 IPL spot-fixing scam. The speedster made his comeback to the game last season playing in the shortest format of the game (Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy) but had opted out of both the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy and Vijay Hazare Trophy.
Feels great to be back after 9 years playing Ranji trophy for my lovely state really grateful to each and everyone of u,lots of love and respect.❤️#grateful #cricket #love #kerala #cricketer #ranjitrophy #redball #neverevergiveup #comeback #time #phoenix pic.twitter.com/huiNsFgC83
— Sreesanth (@sreesanth36) December 26, 2021
“Feels great to be back after 9 years playing Ranji trophy for my lovely state really grateful to each and everyone of u, lots of love and respect.#grateful #cricket #love #kerala #cricketer #ranjitrophy #redball #neverevergiveup #comeback #time #phoenix” S Sreesanth wrote taking to Twitter whilst sharing a video message for his fans.
Kerala Ranji Trophy squad
Left-handed middle-order batter Sachin Baby has been tasked to lead Kerala in the Ranji Trophy this season while wicketkeeper-batter Vishnu Vinod has been named Sachin’s deputy. Sanju Samson who captained Kerala in both Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy T20 and Vijay Hazare Trophy one-day competition will also take part but as a player.
Among the notable absentees are Robin Uthappa, who is yet to regain fitness and Mohammed Azharuddeen who has been overlooked. As for the preliminary camp, it is scheduled to start from Thursday. in Wayanad Kerala have been placed in Elite Group B along with Bengal, Vidarbha, Rajasthan, Haryana and Tripura and will play all their matches in Bengaluru. They will start their campaign with a game against Vidarbha 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 KC, Mithun S, Basil NP, Nideesh M D, Manu Krishnan, Basil Thampi, Fanoos F, S Sreesanth, Akshay Chandran, Varun Nayanar (wk), Anand Joseph, Vinoop Manoharan, Arun M, Vaishak Chandran.
