Sanju Samson set to play and captain Kerala in Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy | Exclusive

Add as a preferred source on Google

Sanju Samson is set to appear for Kerala in the upcoming Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy.

After his stellar performance for India in the T20I series against South Africa, Sanju Samson is unlikely to waste any time and will jump straight into domestic duties.

MyKhel understands that the India star is highly likely to join the Kerala squad for the SMAT tournament, which is India's primary domestic T20 competition.

Samson had an outstanding time with India in the past T20I matches. He scored his maiden T20I century against Bangladesh in Hyderabad, and then continued his blitzkrieg in the first match against South Africa at Durban with another hundred, thus becoming the first Indian to score consecutive T20I centuries.

His form dipped in the next two matches where the 30-year-old was dismissed for consecutive ducks, but roared back in style in the final T20I in Johannesburg, scoring another century.

And the batter wants to continue his purple patch and is likely to represent Kerala now. Samson's decision to play for SMAT also comes from the fact that India has no limited-overs cricket in the next three months, which means the player would be looking to keep himself match-fit and in action ahead of the turn of the year.

Sanju Samson will captain Kerala if he plays in SMAT

Sanju Samson will also captain the Kerala side if he plays SMAT, which looks imminent at the moment. The Kerala squad for the tournament will be announced within a couple of days and Samson will lead the team. He will replace Sachin Baby who has been captaining Kerala in the Ranji Trophy, and recently became the all-format highest scorer for Kerala.

Kerala is slotted in Group E in the Mushtaq Ali Trophy, which will start from November 23. All of Kerala's group-stage matches will be played in Hyderabad as their campaign commences against Services on the opening day.