Kerala has announced its squad for the upcoming Ranji Trophy cricket tournament, with Sachin Baby appointed as captain. Notably, Sanju Samson has been excluded from this year's team.

The squad features a mix of experienced players and newcomers. The wicketkeeping duties will be shared by Mohammed Azharuddeen and Vishnu Vinod.

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Squad: Sachin Baby (Captain), Rohan S. Kunnumal, Krishna Prasad, Baba Aparajith, Akshay Chandran, Mohammed Azharuddeen (Wicketkeeper), Salman Nizar, Vathsal Govind Sharma, Vishnu Vinod (Wicketkeeper), Jalaj Saxena, Aditya Anand Sarwate, Basil Thampi, Nidheesh M.D., Asif K.M., Fanoos F. 

With the absence of Samson, the team will look to establish a strong performance as they aim for success in the prestigious tournament.

Mayank to lead Karnataka in first two rounds, focus on Prasidh

Out-of-favour India opener Mayank Agarwal was on Tuesday named as Karnataka's captain for their first two rounds of Ranji Trophy matches against Madhya Pradesh and Kerala, while pacer Prasidh Krishna will continue to chart his comeback to top-flight cricket through the domestic season.

Karnataka will face MP at Indore from October 11, while the former champions will take on Kerala at Bengaluru from October 18.

After a lukewarm Duleep Trophy, Agarwal will be eager to be among some big runs to impress the selectors, and Prasidh too need better numbers in the wicket column.

The 28-year-old took just four wickets across two matches in the Duleep Trophy while appearing for India A, and he so far has failed to pick up a wicket for Rest of India in Mumbai's first innings in the ongoing Irani Cup at Lucknow.

Devdutt Padikkal too will be hoping to be among runs after a fairly impressive Duleep Trophy and pacer Vysakh Vijayakumar, who has a BCCI pace bowlers' contract, will be eager to make his presence felt with another good outing. There will be some focus on all-rounder Shreyas Gopal too as he has returned to the state after playing for Kerala last season.