Kochi: Sachin Baby, who guided Kerala to the Ranji Trophy quarterfinals for the first time in history last season, has been retained as captain for the 2018-19 season.
Wicket-keeper-batsman Mohammed Azharuddin, one of the 13 players who demanded Sachin's removal from captaincy questioning his 'authoritarian' ways in a letter addressed to the KCA secretary last August, did not figure in the squad announced by the Kerala Cricket Association (KCA) senior selection committee in Thiruvananthapuram on Sunday.
Vishnu Vinod, who performed well in the national one-day championship for the Vijay Hazare Trophy recently, will replace him behind the stumps.
Among the 13 players who were handed sanctions by KCA for dissent against the captain, three – Raiphi Vincent Gomez, Mohammed Azharuddin, and A M Asif – were dropped from the squad. Jalaj Saxena and Arun Karthick are the two outstation players in the 15-member side. Kerala's home matches will be held at the St. Xavier's -KCA cricket ground, Thumba. Their first game is against Hyderabad from November 1 to 4.
The squad:
Sachin Baby (C), Sanju V. Samson, Rohan Prem, V.A. Jagadeesh, Salman Nizar, Arun Karthick, Jalaj Saxena, Vishnu Vnod (W), K.C. Akshay, Akshay Chandran, Sandeep Warrier, Basil Thampi, M.D. Nideesh, P. Rahul and Vinoop S. Manoharan.
Fixtures:
vs Hyderabad – Thiruvananthapuram – November 1 to 4
vs Andhra – Thiruvananthapuram – November 12 to 15
vs Bengal – Kolkata – November 20 to 23
vs Madhya Pradesh – Thiruvananthapuram – November 28 to December 1
vs Tamil Nadu – Away – December 6 to 9
vs Delhi – Thiruvananthapuram – December 14 to 17
vs Punjab – Away – December 30 to January 2, 2019
vs Himachal Pradesh – Away – January 7 to 10
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