Sanju Samson wanted to play Vijay Hazare Trophy, but KCA turned him down

If Sanju Samson misses the cut for next month's Champions Trophy, the Kerala Cricket Association (KCA) might want to share a part of the blame. That is because the state association decided not to include the star batter in their squad for the Vijay Hazare Trophy, a domestic competition that is also played in the 50-over format.

Sanju was accused of opting out of the Vijay Hazare Trophy. However, it has emerged Sanju had only expressed his unavailability for a preparatory camp ahead of the event, but it was the KCA's call to overlook him for the final selection because they wanted to try out youngsters.

KCA Secretary Vinod S Kumar told Onmanorama that Sanju had sent them at least two mails. According to Vinod the first mail said: "This is to inform you that I'll not be available for the camp." "But he did not specify any reasons," Vinod said. "And Sachin (Baby) was also unavailable due to an injury. We were missing two senior players. So we thought of trying out youngsters in their place." That said the Kerala squad had two non-Malayali guest players namely Jalaj Saxena and Aditya Sarvate.

It is understood that Sanju contacted the KCA before Kerala's opening match against Baroda on December 23, declaring his willingness to play in the Vijay Hazare Trophy. "But by then, the squad was finalised. It would have been unfair to sacrifice a youngster at that point," Vinod said.

A source close to Sanju said he was shocked by the decision. "It had been a norm that Sanju would join the Kerala camp when he was not away on national duty. Attending preparatory camps had not been mandatory before," said the source.

Sanju had led Kerala in the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 held before the Vijay Hazare event. Under his leadership, Kerala won four out of six matches, including a thrilling 43-run-win over a star-studded Mumbai captained by Shreyas Iyer.

With both Sanju and Sachin missing, Salman Nizar led the state team in Vijay Hazare. Kerala only managed to win two of their five matches and missed the knockouts. Haryana and Karnataka will play the first semifinal of the Vijay Hazare Trophy on January 15, while Vidarbha and Maharashtra will clash the next day in the second semifinal.

The BCCI selectors are expected to name the 15-member provisional squad for the Champions Trophy on January 19, a day after the Vijay Hazare final.

Rishabh Pant appears to own one of the two slots available for two wicketkeeper batters, leaving three takers -- Dhruv Jurel, Sanju Samson and Ishan Kishan -- for the vacant position.  According to reports, the selectors are expected to pick the red-hot Jurel for the event, overlooking Sanju, who is accused of skipping the Vijay Hazare, and Kishan, who underperformed in the event with 316 runs in seven matches. Sanju was part of India's T20 World Cup-winning squad last June.