Kochi | The Kerala squad for the 77th Santosh Trophy tournament has been announced. Thiruvananthapuram midfielder Nijo Gilbert will lead the 22-member squad. Nijo, who will be in the team for the third time in a row, was also a member of the team that won the Santosh Trophy title in 2022.
Defense player Sanju G from Ernakulam is the deputy captain. The final team was announced from the camp which started from the 15th of last month at Calicut University Stadium under the leadership of Chief Coach Sathivan Balan. There were 40 people in the first phase camp. Then 15 people were excluded. In the second phase, fifteen players were included from the clubs and later six were excluded.
34 people were in the final camp. A 22-member team was selected from among them on the basis of excellence. PK Aziz (assistant coach), Harshal Rahman (goalkeeper coach), Dr. Other officials in the team are Sudhir Kumar (Manager) and Denny Davis (Physiotherapist).
Team
Goalkeepers: Mohammad Azhar K, Mohammad Nishad P (Malappuram), Siddharth Rajeevan Nair (Kozhikode).
Defence: Belgin Bolster, Shinu R (Thiruvananthapuram), Sanju G, Nithin Madhu (Eranakulam), Mohammad Saleem (Kottayam), Sujith R, Sarath KP (Thrissur)
Middle Row: Nijo Gilbert (Thiruvananthapuram), Arjun V (Kozhikode), Jithin G (Palakad), Akbar Siddique NP (Malappuram), Rashid M (Kasarkot), Rizwan Ali EK (Kannur), Bijesh Balan (Thrissur), Abdu Rahim (Idukki).
Forward: Sajeesh E, Mohammad Ashiq S (Palakad), Naresh B, Junain K (Malappuram).
12 Experienced, Ten newcomers
The Kerala team is a mix of experienced and new faces. Rashid M, Beljin Bolster, Naresh B, Rizwan Ali EK, Arjun V, Abdurrahim, Shinu R and Mohammad Saleem were members of the last Santosh Trophy team. Mohammad Azhar, Jitin Ji, Nijo Gilbert and Sanju Ji played for Kerala in Santosh Trophy in previous years as well. Siddharth Nair, Mohammad Nishad, Nithin Madhu, Sujith VR, Sarath KP, Bijesh Balan, Akbar Siddique, Sajeesh E, Mohammad Ashiq and Junain K are the new faces in the team.
First against Gujarat
The team will leave Kozhikode on the Mangala Express at 2.40 pm on the 8th of this month for the preliminary round matches of the Santosh Trophy to be held in Goa. Kerala is in Group A.
The first match is against Gujarat on the 11th. Other matches are against Jammu and Kashmir on 13th, Chhattisgarh on 15th and Goa on 17th.
The first three matches will kick off at 9 am. The match against Goa is at 4 pm. The venue is Fatorda Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium.
2023-10-04 20:41:24
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