In a major boost for Kerala cricket, Indian wicketkeeper-batter and Rajasthan Royals captain Sanju Samson is confirmed to play in the upcoming season of the Kerala Cricket League (KCL). The news was confirmed by Kerala Cricket Association (KCA) governing council chairman Nazir Machan, who told Sportstar on Monday that Samson has officially signed up for the KCL player auction, scheduled to take place on July 5.

Samson, who served only as the brand ambassador for the league during its inaugural season in 2024, will now be seen on the field, representing his home state. He enters the player auction in the elite Category A, which features 39 top players, including Kerala Ranji Trophy captain Sachin Baby and promising IPL talent Vignesh Puthur.

According to a KCA source cited in Sportstar, “The wicketkeeper batter has registered for the KCL auction, declaring his willingness to participate in the franchise league, which is expected to take place ahead of the next Indian Premier League (IPL) season.” Samson’s participation is set to elevate the league’s popularity and draw wider attention.

KCL Auction Rules and Samson’s Comeback Opportunity

Sanju Samson had a tough 2025 IPL season marred with injuries, starting with a fractured finger, then a stomach issue impacted his performance and pushed him down in the batting order. He only managed to finish the season with 285 runs in nine matches with one fifty, averaging 35.62 and a strike rate of 140.39. The KCL will serve as an important platform for him to regain form and fitness.

Sanju Samson to play the upcoming season of Kerala Cricket League

He has been included in the players list for the next KCL auction

This just confirms that he’s not moving away from KCA even after all the disrespects he faced pic.twitter.com/nEycFz05di

— Sanju Samson Fans Page (@SanjuSamsonFP) June 23, 2025

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As per KCA auction guidelines, each team can retain up to four players—three of whom may be capped. Teams opting out of retentions will be granted a Right-To-Match (RTM) card during the auction. The player retention deadline is June 30, 5 PM IST. Each franchise will have a Rs. 50 lakh auction purse and must form squads of 16–20 players. Defending champions Aries Kollam Sailors will look to defend their crown, having defeated Calicut Globstars in last year’s final.

Former Indian cricketer S. Sreesanth has been suspended for three years by the Kerala Cricket Association (KCA). The move was made after he publicly attacked the association regarding matters concerning Sanju Samson, another Kerala cricketer. Sreesanth's remarks were deemed to be disrespectful and detrimental to KCA's reputation, particularly since he was also a co-owner of a local team in the Kerala Cricket League.

The issue started when Sanju Samson was not included in Kerala's team for a national tournament known as the Vijay Hazare Trophy. The KCA said that Samson had informed them that he would not attend the training camp. Due to this, he was not allowed to play. This later contributed to him missing out on a spot in India's 2025 Champions Trophy squad, causing a lot of disappointment to his fans and supporters.

Sreesanth later made the allegations public that the KCA was not serving talented players effectively. The veteran India pacer went to the extent of saying the association was falling short in working towards the popularization of cricket in the state. The KCA refuted these claims severely and reminded the world that it had stood behind Sreesanth even during the ban following the 2013 spot-fixing scandal.

🚨 Kerala Cricket Association suspends Sreesanth for 3 years over Sanju samson Controversy 🚨

The KCA also said that it will seek legal action for compensation from Sanju's father, Samson Viswanath, Reji Lukose and 24 news channel anchor for making "baseless allegations against… pic.twitter.com/S1ytkB8kBq

— Mohit Kamal Rath (@mkr4411) May 2, 2025

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KCA Responds with Legal Action and Warnings
The KCA also said that they will take legal action against Sanju Samson's father, Samson Viswanath, as he too made serious public statements against the cricket board. The association declared the comments false and harmful. They do not want to ruin their reputation and see that no one circulates unsubstantiated claims.

Even though Sreesanth is suspended, the franchise owned by him hasn't been disciplined. All teams were issued warning letters by the KCA to be more cautious in the future while selecting their management team. This entire episode has put pressure on the Kerala cricket association and made everyone wonder how players are handled and picked up in state cricket.

Kerala bowled out Gujarat for 455, creating a match-defining margin of two runs to take a huge stride towards reaching the Ranji Trophy final.
Before this, Gujarat's teen batting star Jaymeet Patel held firm against intense pressure in his debut First-Class season to bring his team nearer to Kerala's first-innings score with a rearguard action on Day 4 in the Ranji Trophy semifinal at Narendra Modi Stadium.

🚨 A FINAL'S ENTRY BY BAREST OF MARGIN IN RANJI TROPHY. 🚨

- Kerala for the first time in 74 years history have qualified for the Ranji Final by just 2 runs lead. 🤯 pic.twitter.com/ClCjik4cBn

— Mufaddal Vohra (@mufaddal_vohra) February 21, 2025

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This year, Jaymeet, Gujarat's top run-getter, entered with the hosts struggling under a middle-order collapse led by Kerala's experienced off-spinner Jalaj Saxena. Rather than crumbling under pressure, however, he played the game out, stitching together vital partnerships with Vishal Jayswal and Siddharth Desai. His cautious approach helped Gujarat continue to chip away at the deficit, leaving it poised for a nerve-wracking finish where each run would be precious.
Gujarat's prospects of first innings lead were rocked in the morning session earlier in the day when Manan Hingrajia was given out by a debatable third-umpire decision, five overs into the morning session. The replays indicated the ball hitting his bat and pad nearly in unison, but the referral went against him to Kerala's benefit, having him return to the pavilion for 33.

Sreesanth got a notice from the KCA asking for an explanation for his statement. They want to know why he said that statement for the sanju samson exclusion. This happened after the former Indian fast bowler Sreesanth spoke against the KCA for how they treated Sanju Samson. KCA didn't allow Samson a proper opportunity to give his best and show his experience how important for the India's ODI team.

Sreesanth told Onmanorama we should all cheer for Sanju because he is the only one player who plays International for our State, Kerala. The KCA gets players from other States for Kerala team and that's not fair to our own players from here. Why do they act that way? It makes it hard for players who play cricket in Kerala to get a chance.

The BCCI started looking into why Samson wasn't playing in Domestic Cricket. Before this happened, there was a small disagreement between the KCA and Samson primarily concentrated about him not getting to play for the Kerala team in the Vijay Hazare Trophy. Samson had to play in these home games to show he's good at Cricket because he wasn't on India's team in the ICC Champions Trophy. 

THOUGHTS on the controversy that has erupted between KCA & Sreesanth over the treatment meted out to Sanju Samson? 🤔 pic.twitter.com/aGvf0umwtZ

— Cricket.com (@weRcricket) February 8, 2025

KCA Fires Back at Sreesanth

Sreesanth’s comment hinted that KCA had acted unfairly. Sreesanth is the co-owner of the Kollam Sailors franchise in the Kcl, he isn't allowed to make such bold statements about the KCA as per his contract. KCA said that why they supported him when no one else did because of his match-fixing past, yet he still made negative remarks against them.

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"When Sreesanth was in jail facing match-fixing allegations, KCA officials Backed him. While the court Dismissed the criminal charges, he has not been officially cleared in the match-fixing case. There’s no reason for him to show as a protector of other players," KCA stated this statement. The KCA board helped Sreesanth make a comeback when others didn’t.  "KCA’s supported Sreesanth got a chance to return to cricket, including playing in the Ranji Trophy. Other teams haven’t extended the same level of support to players with similar pasts, and that’s something to think about," the statement added by Kerala Cricket Association (KCA).