# Kerala cricket team

The Kerala cricket team is a domestic cricket team based in the Indian state of Kerala. It is in the Elite Group of the Ranji Trophy, the premier first class cricket tournament in India. It was known as Travancore-Cochin cricket team until 1957/58.
Kerala has produced two Indian Test cricketers, Tinu Yohannan and S. Sreesanth. Sanju Samson has represented India in T20Is and ODIs, while Basil Thampi has a national call-up to his name. The team also lined up ex-Indian International player Sadagoppan Ramesh for two years from 2005 to 2007. Robin Uthappa, a former Indian International player currently plays for Kerala. Kerala has also produced Krishna Chandran, who plays at International level for United Arab Emirates.

## Playing history

Kerala began competing in the 1957–58 Ranji Trophy, succeeding the Travancore-Cochin cricket team after the states were reorganized. It competed in the South Zone, against Madras/Tamil Nadu, Mysore/Karnataka, Andhra and Hyderabad. In 1957–58 Kerala lost all four matches, three of them by an innings.
In the 1959–60 season, Kerala's Balan Pandit (262*) and George Abraham (198) put up a 410 runs partnership in the fourth wicket, which is the highest in Indian first-class cricket. Pandit's score remained the highest for Kerala in FC format until the 2007–08 season.
Kerala's best season in Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy was in 2012–13 season where they finished 3rd, missing out from finals after losing the last league stage match to eventual champions Gujarat.
By the end of the 2016–17 season, Kerala had played 302 first-class matches, and won 46, lost 140 and drawn 116. In List A cricket Kerala had played 120 matches, with 47 wins, 71 losses and two ties.
Kerala reached the pre-quarterfinal of Ranji Trophy in the 1994–95 season when they progressed as South zone winners under the captaincy of KN Ananthapadmanabhan. They were qualified for the Super League after emerging as the south zone winners in 1996–97 under leadership of Feroze V Rasheed. Kerala reached plate final in 2002–03 and semifinal in 2007–08.
In November 2017, they progressed to the quarter-finals of the Ranji Trophy for the first time, when they finished second in Group B of the 2017–18 tournament. The following season, they progressed to the semifinals for the first time after beating former champions Gujarat in the last eight.
Kerala reached its first Ranji Trophy final in the 2024–25 season, doing so in dramatic fashion after first innings victories in the quarterfinal and semifinal by one run and two runs respectively.

## Honours

| Year | Final Result | Captain | Most Runs | Most Wickets |
| Ranji Trophy |||||
| 2024–25 | Runners-up | Sachin Baby | Mohammed Azharuddeen (635) | Jalaj Saxena (40) |

## Governing body

The Kerala Cricket Association (KCA) is the governing body for the Kerala cricket team. It was founded on 1951 and is affiliated to the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and the Kerala State Sports Authority (KSSA). It is the parent body of the 14 district associations in Kerala.

## Current squad

Players with International caps are listed in bold.
| Name | Birth date | Batting style | Bowling style | Notes |
| Batsmen |||||
| Rohan Kunnummal | (1998-05-10) 10 May 1998 (age 26) | Right-handed | Right-arm medium | |
| Salman Nizar | (1997-06-30) 30 June 1997 (age 27) | Left-handed | Right-arm off break | |
| Sachin Baby | (1988-12-18) 18 December 1988 (age 36) | Left-handed | Right-arm off-break | First-class Captain Plays for Sunrisers Hyderabad in IPL |
| Shoun Roger | (2002-10-16) 16 October 2002 (age 22) | Right-handed | Right-arm off break | |
| Akshay Chandran | (1993-10-19) 19 October 1993 (age 31) | Left-handed | Slow left-arm orthodox | |
| Ahammad Imran | (2006-05-22) 22 May 2006 (age 18) | Left-handed | Right-arm off break | |
| Vathsal Govind | (2000-01-02) 2 January 2000 (age 25) | Right-handed | Right-arm leg break | |
| Anand Krishnan | (1998-01-28) 28 January 1998 (age 27) | Left-handed | Right-arm off break | |
| Krishna Prasad | (1999-07-01) 1 July 1999 (age 25) | Right-handed | Right-arm off break | |
| All-rounders |||||
| Abdul Basith | (1998-10-09) 9 October 1998 (age 26) | Right-handed | Right-arm off break | |
| Baba Aparajith | (1994-07-08) 8 July 1994 (age 30) | Right-handed | Right-arm off break | |
| Wicket-keepers |||||
| Mohammed Azharuddeen | (1994-03-22) 22 March 1994 (age 30) | Right-handed | | |
| Vishnu Vinod | (1993-02-15) 15 February 1993 (age 32) | Right-handed | | Plays for Punjab Kings in IPL |
| Sanju Samson | (1994-11-11) 11 November 1994 (age 30) | Right-handed | | List A and Twenty20 Captain Plays for Rajasthan Royals in IPL |
| Spin-bowlers |||||
| Jalaj Saxena | (1986-12-15) 15 December 1986 (age 38) | Right-handed | Right-arm off break | |
| Aditya Sarwate | (1989-12-10) 10 December 1989 (age 35) | Right-handed | Slow left-arm orthodox | |
| Pace bowlers |||||
| MD Nidheesh | (1991-05-05) 5 May 1991 (age 33) | Right-handed | Right-arm medium | |
| Basil Thampi | (1993-09-11) 11 September 1993 (age 31) | Right-handed | Right-arm medium | |
| Nedumankuzhy Basil | (1996-10-20) 20 October 1996 (age 28) | Right-handed | Right-arm medium | |
| Sharafuddeen | (1995-02-14) 14 February 1995 (age 30) | Right-handed | Right-arm medium | |
| Vinod Kumar | (1987-07-31) 31 July 1987 (age 37) | Right-handed | Right-arm medium | |
| KM Asif | (1993-07-24) 24 July 1993 (age 31) | Right-handed | Right-arm medium | |
Updated as on 26 February 2024

## Support staff

| Position | Name |
| Team Manager | Nazir Machan |
| Head coach | Amay Khurasiya |
| Assistant coach | Rajeesh Retnakumar |
| Strength and conditioning Coach | Vysakh Krishna |
| Physiotherapist | Unnikrishnan RS |
| Performance Analyst | Srivathsan P B |
| Throw down Specialist | Gireesh E K |
| Team Masseur | Jose N |

## Stadiums
### International stadiums
#### Active stadium

| Sl. No | Name | City | Capacity | No. of matches | No. of matches | No. of matches | First match | Last match | Ref. |
| Sl. No | Name | City | Capacity | Test | ODIs | T20Is | First match | Last match | Ref. |
| 1 | Greenfield International Stadium | Thiruvananthapuram | 55,000 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 7 November 2017 | 8 December 2019 | |

#### Former stadiums

| Sl. No | Name | City | Capacity | No. of matches | No. of matches | No. of matches | First match | Last match | Ref. |
| Sl. No | Name | City | Capacity | Test | ODIs | T20Is | First match | Last match | Ref. |
| 1 | Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium | Kochi | 80,000 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 1 April 1998 | 8 October 2014 | |
| 2 | University Stadium | Thiruvananthapuram | 20,000 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 October 1984 | 25 January 1988 | |

### Other stadiums

| Sl. No | Name | City | Capacity | Ref. |
| Sl. No | Name | City | Capacity | Ref. | 1 | Fertilisers and Chemicals Travancore Ground | Ernakulam | 5000 |
| 2 | Conor Vayal Stadium | Kannur | — | |
| 3 | Military Maidan | Kannur | — | |
| 4 | Police Ground | Kannur | 2000 | |
| 5 | Cochin Refineries Ltd Ground | Kochi | 3000 | |
| 6 | Fort Cochin Parade Maidan | Kochi | 3000 | |
| 7 | Maharaja College Stadium | Kochi | 15,000 | |
| 8 | Premier Tyres Oval | Kochi | 10,000 | |
| 9 | St Paul's College Ground | Kochi | — | |
| 10 | Nehru Stadium | Kottayam | 18,000 | |
| 11 | Kozhikode Corporation EMS Stadium | Kozhikode | 15,000 | |
| 12 | Manachira Maidan | Kozhikode | 1000 | |
| 13 | Calicut Medical College Stadium | Kozhikode | 10,000 | |
| 14 | Medical College Ground | Kozhikode | 5000 | |
| 15 | Regional Engineering College Ground | Kozhikode | 3000 | |
| 16 | Malabar State Police Ground | Malappuram | 1000 | |
| 17 | Perintalmanna Cricket Stadium | Malappuram | — | |
| 18 | Fort Maidan | Palakkad | 10,000 | |
| 19 | The Government Victoria College Ground | Palakkad | 2000 | |
| 20 | Municipal Stadium | Thalassery | 7500 | |
| 21 | KCA Cricket Ground | Thiruvananthapuram | — | |
| 22 | Lakshmibhai National College of Physical Education Ground | Thiruvananthapuram | 10,000 | |
| 23 | Medical College Ground | Thiruvananthapuram | 2000 | |
| 24 | St. Xavier's College Ground, Thumba | Thiruvananthapuram | — | |
| 25 | Vellyani Agricultural College Ground | Thiruvananthapuram | 10,000 | |
| 26 | University Stadium | Thiruvananthapuram | 10,000 | |
| 27 | Municipal Stadium | Thrissur | 1500 | |
| 28 | Krishnagiri Stadium | Wayanad | — | |
| 29 | Lal Bahadur Shastri Stadium | Kollam | 30,000 | |
| 30 | Sree Narayana College Ground | Kollam | 3000 | |
| 31 | Sanatana Dharma College Ground | Alappuzha | — | |
| 32 | Thiruvalla Municipal Stadium | Pathanamthitta | — | |
| 33 | Central Stadium | Thiruvananthapuram | — | |

## Famous players

Players who have represented India :
| Player | Formats | Debut |
| Tinu Yohannan | Test | 2001 |
| Shanthakumaran Sreesanth | Test/ODI/T20I | 2006 |
| Sanju Samson | ODI/T20I | 2021 |
| Sandeep Warrier | T20I | 2021 |
| Sujith Somasunder | ODI | 1996 |
| Sadagoppan Ramesh | Test | 1999 |
| Robin Uthappa | Test/ODI/T20I | 2006 |
Prominent cricketers at the domestic level:
* Ajay Varma
* Ajay Kudua
* Antony Sebastian
* B. Ramprakash
* Balan Pandit
* Basil Thampi
* Feroze V Rasheed
* Kelappan Thampuran
* K. N. Ananthapadmanabhan
* K Jayaraman
* Padmanabhan Prasanth
* Prasanth Parameswaran
* Krishna Chandran (Represented UAE)
* Raiphi Gomez
* Rohan Prem
* Sachin Baby
* Sony Cheruvathur
* Sreekumar Nair
* Sunil Oasis
* Thomas Mathew
* VA Jagadeesh