Indian wicketkeeper batter Sanju Samson has been excluded from the Kerala squad for the Vijay Hazare Trophy starting from December 21. Kerala excluded Samson on the account of missing the preparatory camp prior to the tournament. According to a report from EspnCricinfo, Samson had urged the association KCA to grant him leave as he won't be available for the camp. Despite that, Samson was one of the first 30 choices for the tournament but got omitted from the selected 19-member squad. Notably, Sanju Samson smashed two centuries in two T20 matches against South Africa. For Kerala, he played six matches in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy and scored 135 runs and one half century. Kerala Squad: Salman Nizar (capt), Rohan Kunnummal, Shoun Roger, Mohammed Azharuddeen (wk), Anand Krishnan, Krishna Prasad, Jalaj Saxena, Aditya Sarwate, Sijomon Joseph, Basil Thampi, Basil NP, Nidheesh MD, Eden Apple Tom, Sharafuddeen, Akhil Scaria, Vishweshwar Suresh, Vaishak Chandran, Ajnas M (wk) Read also: 'See you all soon': Ravichandran Ashwin posts thanking video, glimpses of his career Karnataka skips Manish Pandey The KSCA selection committee has decided to move on from senior cricketer Manish Pandey. KSCA selection committee chair J. Abhiram said that Pandey's off-form is the major concern as he scored just 117 runs in five innings as Karnataka. Not only that, his team finished fourth in the eight-team pool, getting defeated by Baroda and Saurashtra. Karnataka's association has announced that Manish Pandey, vice captain for the first half of Ranji Trophy 2024-25, won't feature in the tournament's second leg starting January. Pandey, who scored just one half-century in six innings, leaves Karnataka needing a miracle to reach the knockouts. Pandey's illustrious career includes two Ranji Trophy titles, back-to-back Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy wins (2018-19, 2019-20), 7973 first-class runs at 50.78, and over 13,000 white-ball runs. Meanwhile, Karnataka’s senior players, including captain Agarwal, face increasing scrutiny amid a youth-focused transition. Karnataka squad: Mayank Agarwal (capt), Shreyas Gopal (vice-capt), S Nikin Jose, KV Aneesh, R Smaran, KL Shrijith, Abhinav Manohar, Hardik Raj, Vyshak Vijaykumar, Vasuki Koushik, Vidyadhar Patil, Kishan Bedare, Abhilash Shetty, Manoj Bhandage, Pravin Dubey, and Luvnith Sisodia