The Sanju Samson-less Kerala cricket team will look to create history when they go head-to-head against Gujarat from Monday (February 17) at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad in the semi-final of the 2024-25 Ranji Trophy with a surprise finalist in store.

This is only the second time in history that Kerala will be playing in the last four of India's premier first-class competition. Their only appearance in a semi-final of the Ranji Trophy was in 2018-19 when they faced eventual champions Vidarbha in Wayanad. Kerala lost the match by an innings and 11 runs.

The clash against Gujarat offers Kerala a chance to create history and reach the final of India's premier first-class competition for the first time in history as they aim to lift a maiden major title in any format. However, the Sachin Baby-led outfit will be without Samson, who is the only capped international player in the squad.

With Samson not in India's Champions Trophy squad, the expectation was he would feature for Kerala in the knockouts of the Ranji Trophy, but that has not happened. The reason behind his absence is an injury suffered during the fifth T20I between India and England at Mumbai's Wankhede Stadium.

For those unversed, Samson was hit on the finger by a delivery from Jofra Archer. Later, he underwent surgery for the finger and, as per a report by ESPN Cricinfo, will be out of action for a month. He is expected to be fit for Rajasthan Royals' 2025 Indian Premier League (IPL) opening clash against Sunrisers Hyderabad on March 23 in Hyderabad.

The injury also meant Samson missed Kerala's dramatic quarter-final against Jammu and Kashmir last week in Pune. The match ended in a draw, but the Keralites qualified on the basis of a first-innings lead of one run, which came because of a 10th wicket partnership of 82 runs.

However, it is not clear if Samson would have been picked by Kerala. Recently, Samson found himself in a tussle with the Kerala Cricket Association (KCA) after the failure to attend a team camp saw him being dropped from the Vijay Hazare Trophy (VHT) squad, which effectively cost the 30-year-old a chance to make India's 2025 Champions Trophy squad.

Samson led Kerala in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy (SMAT) this season, in which they failed to reach the knockouts. Samson also played one Ranji Trophy match this season in between international duty, which was Kerala's second match against Karnataka in October.

Kerala Squad: Akshay Chandran, Rohan Kunnummal, Shoun Roger, Sachin Baby(c), Jalaj Saxena, Salman Nizar, Mohammed Azharuddeen(w), Aditya Sarwate, MD Nidheesh, Nedumankuzhy Basil, Basil Thampi, Vaisakh Chandran, Baba Aparajith, Vishnu Vinod, KM Asif, Fazil Fanoos, Vathsal Govind, Krishna Prasad, Anand Krishnan

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