Why is Sanju Samson Not Playing Today in Kerala vs Assam SMAT Match?

The Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2025 has reached the end of the group stages with the last set of games being played on December 8. There are many players who have performed brilliantly, impressing the crowd and the selectors.

The Super League stage will start on December 12 and only eight teams will qualify for the knockout stage. Out of them, four will qualify for the semi-finals. The competition is fierce and tough, but the teams are looking confident with their performance.

Why is Sanju Samson Not Playing Today?

Kerala's star batter and captain Sanju Samson is not playing today's match against Assam. Samson has been a regular player in India's T20I team and the South Africa series is starting on December 9. He has joined the Indian team and is busy with the preparations for the upcoming series. This is the main reason behind his absence in the ongoing SMAT 2025.

The first match of the IND vs SA T20I series will be played on December 9, 2025. Since Shubman Gill is back in the team, Samson might not get a chance to open the innings for India, but he is likely to be in the playing XI given that he is one of the best wicketkeepers in India.

Samson has been in great form in the T20s. Currently, he is batting in the middle order for India due to Shubman Gill's presence at the top but in the last T20I match, he batted at No. 3 position. Sanju Samson Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy performance has been excellent as well. Moreover, batting positions are not confirmed in the Indian team as we can see a frequent shuffle.

Will Kerala Make it to Super League Stage in SMAT 2025?

According to the tournament's format, only top two teams from each group will qualify for the Super League stage of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2025. Hence, Kerala cricket team will not qualify for the Super League Stage even if they win today's match against Assam because they are in the third position with just 12 points while the team in the second position, Andhra Pradesh have 20 points.

For a win, a team gets four points and Kerala will end on 16 points if they win the game. There have been some wonderful games in the tournament so far from Kerala's side and Sanju Samson SMAT performance has played a key role in it. He started the tournament with a half-century in the first match, followed by a 43 in the third game.

In the fifth match, he scored 46 and in the sixth match, he played an unbeaten 77-run knock. Overall, he has been in an incredible form and and has shown why he is among the most dangerous batsmen in the world. Not only Samson, even Hardik Pandya and Abhishek Sharma are in great form and it will be interesting to watch them play against South Africa in the T20Is from December 9.