Sanju Samson will captain Kerala in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2026/27 after the Kerala Cricket Association named the India wicketkeeper-batter to lead an 18-member squad for the domestic T20 tournament.

The tournament begins on Saturday, 14 November, with the final scheduled for Sunday, 6 December. Kerala open their campaign against Madhya Pradesh on 14 November in New Chandigarh, and have been placed in Elite Group C alongside Andhra, Assam, Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Puducherry and Tripura.

Samson is available for domestic duty because he is not part of India's ODI and Test squads for the ongoing tour of New Zealand. He featured in the T20I series against New Zealand, and the gap before India's next series, against Sri Lanka in the third week of December, leaves him free to represent his home state.

Return to domestic cricket

The Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy marks Samson's return to domestic action for Kerala for the first time since January, when he played a Vijay Hazare Trophy match against Puducherry. He also led Kerala in the previous edition of the tournament, when the side finished fourth in their Elite Group and failed to progress to the Super League stage.

Samson still impressed with the bat in that campaign, scoring 233 runs from six matches at an average of 58.25 and a strike rate of 137.86, with two half-centuries. He will be keen to lead from the front again, both as captain and as Kerala's key batter.

His recent international form has been mixed. He scored a fifty in the opening game of the New Zealand T20I series but had low scores in the other four matches. Across 2026, however, he has scored 810 runs in 30 T20Is at an average of 27.93 and a strike rate of 173.44, with eight half-centuries.

Kerala's squad and ambitions

Kerala's 18-member squad includes Rohan Kunnummal, Mohammed Azharuddeen, Vishnu Vinod, Vignesh Puthur, Salman Nizar and domestic stalwart Jalaj Saxena, alongside captain Samson. Vishnu Vinod, Kerala's red-ball captain, is also part of the group.

Kerala have never won the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy and will aim for a first title in the upcoming edition. Samson has captained Kerala in T20 cricket since 2018, and the state side will hope his international experience and batting form can carry them beyond the group stage this time.

The Kerala Cricket Association finalised the squad on Tuesday, 10 November, after selection trials at Mangalapuram Stadium, just four days before the tournament begins.