Kerala, who had a historic final-season Ranji Trophy appearance last year, will have a new captain head them into a new campaign in the coveted first-class tournament from October 15. The Kerala Cricket Association (KCA) on Friday, October 10, picked wicket-keeper batter Mohammed Azharuddeen as the team's new captain, replacing Sachin Baby. The 15-man team has former captain Sanju Samson, who had a controversy with the KCA at the end of the last season. Regulars Rohan S Kunnummal, M D Nidheesh, and Salman Nizar find their spots intact, while the team also includes two guest players, Baba Aparajith and Ankit Sharma. In a shocking decision, Tamil Nadu-born Aparajith has been made vice-captain, even with the experienced lot consisting of Samson and Baby. Amay Khuraisya remains the senior team's head coach. Kerala are scheduled to start their Ranji Trophy campaign against Maharashtra at the Greenfield Stadium in Thiruvananthapuram on October 15. Rishabh Pant Ruled Out of Opening Round Delhi have released their team for the first round of the 2025–26 Ranji Trophy season, starting from October 15, with their first match against Hyderabad. The 24-player squad will be captained by Ayush Badoni, while vice-captain has been appointed as Yash Dhull. The talented batter Priyansh Arya got his first call-up after an impressive domestic and IPL campaign. Arya was one of the most impressive players in the 2025 IPL with 475 runs as an opener for the Punjab Kings (PBKS). There was no room for Rishabh Pant in the team as he is still recovering from the broken toe injury he picked in the fourth Test against England at Old Trafford in July. Nitish Rana, who returned to Delhi after spending two seasons with Uttar Pradesh, has also been named in the squad. The veteran seamer Ishant Sharma was left out, with Navdeep Saini and Simarjeet Singh leading Delhi’s pace attack for the upcoming season. Delhi full squad for Round 1 Ayush Badoni (C), Yash Dhull (VC), Anuj Rawat (wk), Arpit Rana, Sanat Sangwan, Sumit Mathur, Shivam Sharma, Rounak Waghela, Navdeep Saini, Simarjeet Singh, Money Grewal, Siddhant Sharma, Dhruv Kaushik, Pranav Rajvanshi, Nitish Rana, Himmat Singh, Ayush Doseja, Rahul Dagar, Hrithik Shokeen, Priyansh Arya, Tejasvi Dahiya (wk), Vaibhav Kandpal, Rohan Rana, Aryan Rana (subject to fitness). Kerala full squad for Round 1 Mohammed Azharuddeen (C), Baba Aparajith (VC), Sanju Samson, Sachin Baby, Rohan S Kunnumal, Vathsal Govind, Akshay Chandran, Salman Nizar, Ankit Sharma, MD Nidheesh, Basil NP, Eden Apple Tom, Ahammed Imran, Shoun Roger, Abhishek P Nair