Top 5 KCL Players Who Can Make India’s Next Asia Cup Squad

Sanju Samson already has an Asia Cup winner’s medal. The other four names on this list are still chasing their first India cap. 

With Kerala Cricket League (KCL) Season 3 starting on August 20, 2026, and India’s next Asia Cup now confirmed as a 50-over event in 2027, here is an honest, form-and-fact based look at which Kerala stars actually have a route into the squad, and which ones are on this list more for sentiment than probability.

Quick Look: KCL’s India Hopefuls

State-level T20 leagues have become an essential scouting ground for national selectors, especially when international spots open up due to rotation or injury. The Kerala Cricket League 2026 gives uncapped domestic performers a high-pressure platform to showcase their skills against proven first-class and IPL-contracted cricketers in match situations that mirror international intensity. Strong performances in tournaments like these often catch the eye of selectors looking to add fresh options to India’s next Asia Cup squad.

1. Sanju Samson: Already an Asia Cup Winner, Now Fighting to Get Back In

Samson tops this list on reputation alone, even though he will not play a single ball in KCL 2026. He informed the league and Kochi Blue Tigers that he is skipping the season for personal reasons, and his name never even made it to the auction list of 156 available players. His elder brother Saly Samson still leads the franchise.

That absence stings a bit more because of how good Samson was the last time he turned up for Kerala’s own league. Kochi paid a record ₹26.80 lakh for him in KCL 2025, and he repaid that faith with 368 runs in just five innings.

Where He Actually Stands With India

Here is the part that makes this entry complicated. Samson was the Player of the Tournament at the T20 World Cup in March 2026, scoring 321 runs in five innings at an average of 80.25 and a strike rate of 199.37. That tally broke Virat Kohli’s record for the most runs by an Indian in a single World Cup edition.

And yet, barely four months later, he was out of both white-ball setups. India’s ODI squad for England went with KL Rahul and Ishan Kishan as the two keepers, leaving Samson out entirely. He was then dropped from the T20I squad for the Zimbabwe tour in July, even as he remains part of India’s full-strength squad for the Asian Games in September 2026.

So why does he still belong on this list? Because his numbers, when he does play, back up the selectors’ repeated gambles on him. He averages 56.67 across 16 ODIs, a genuinely elite return for a middle-order keeper-batter, and his T20I tally now reads 1,399 runs from 62 matches at a strike rate of 156.83.

There is also a fresh subplot heading into the next cycle. Samson was traded from Rajasthan Royals to Chennai Super Kings ahead of IPL 2026, swapped along with Ravindra Jadeja and Sam Curran moving the other way. A settled IPL role, plus that ODI average, gives him a genuine shot at the 2027 Asia Cup squad. But first, he needs a recall.

2. Mohammed Azharuddeen: The Captain Whose Numbers Keep Climbing

Mohammed Azharuddeen leads Kerala now, and his recent domestic record makes a stronger case for a maiden India call-up than most people realise. He was retained by Alleppey Ripples for ₹7.5 lakh ahead of KCL 2026, a signal of how central he is to the franchise.

His breakout moment goes back to the 2021 Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, where he smashed an unbeaten 137 off 54 balls against Mumbai, the second-fastest century in the tournament’s history. That innings got him picked up by Royal Challengers Bangalore at the IPL auction that year.

What sets him apart from a pure T20 hitter, though, is his red-ball form. In February 2025, he became the first Kerala batter to score a Ranji Trophy semi-final century, an unbeaten 177 against Gujarat. He is now closing in on 2,000 First-Class runs at an average in the mid-30s.

That range, an explosive white-ball opener who can also anchor a first-class innings, is exactly the profile national selectors look for ahead of a 50-over Asia Cup. He is uncapped, but Kerala’s captaincy and this kind of consistency rarely go unnoticed for long.

3. Vishnu Vinod: The Vijay Hazare Wrecking Ball Two IPL Teams Have Waited On

Vishnu Vinod has spent a decade bouncing between IPL benches, picked up by five different franchises and given only six matches to show for it. Punjab Kings retained him for ₹95 lakh ahead of IPL 2026, still backing his glovework and finishing ability over match time.

His real statement, though, came in List A cricket, not the IPL. In January 2026, he smashed an unbeaten 162 off just 84 balls against Puducherry in the Vijay Hazare Trophy, an innings built on 14 sixes. He finished that campaign with 422 runs at an average of 105.50.

That is precisely the kind of List A form that matters most for a 2027 Asia Cup conversation, since the tournament runs on the 50-over format. Trivandrum Royals paid ₹7.80 lakh for him at the KCL 2026 auction, and another explosive KCL run could push his name further up India’s white-ball radar.

He is still uncapped at the international level. But few uncapped Indian keepers currently have a List A season this loud to point to.

4. MD Nidheesh: Kerala’s Most Reliable Seamer, Racing the Clock

MD Nidheesh does not have the eye-catching numbers of the batters on this list, but Kerala has leaned on him for almost every big match over the past two seasons.

He picked up two early wickets in the 2024-25 Ranji Trophy final against Vidarbha, a match Kerala eventually lost.

Aries Kollam Sailors paid ₹6.60 lakh for him in the KCL 2026 auction, a fair price for a seamer who consistently takes the new ball for his state across all three formats.

Here is the honest part. Nidheesh turned 35 this year, and India’s white-ball selectors have consistently favoured seamers in their mid-to-late 20s for the 50-over format. A maiden cap at this stage would be a genuine surprise rather than a natural progression, no matter how well he bowls in Kerala colours.

He remains a name worth watching purely for what he offers Kerala and, by extension, KCL. An India Asia Cup call-up, though, looks like a stretch too far.

5. Sachin Baby: More Legend Than Longshot

Sachin Baby is Kerala’s all-time highest run-scorer, with more than 10,000 runs across formats for the state. Alleppey Ripples paid ₹10 lakh for him at the KCL 2026 auction, making him the third-most expensive buy of the tournament behind Sibin Gireesh and Krishna Devan.

He was born a week after Sachin Tendulkar’s first-class debut century, which is exactly why his cricket-mad father named him after the legend. Baby still bats left-handed, still grinds out fifties, and still shows up when Kerala need a big innings, as his gritty 98 in the 2024-25 Ranji final against Vidarbha proved.

But the numbers that matter for this list are less kind. He is 37, was dropped from Kerala’s Syed Mushtaq Ali squad last season for the first time in 12 years, and has never played international cricket. His List A average sits at a healthy 40.32, but at his age, that record now serves Kerala and KCL far more than any Asia Cup ambition.

Baby’s spot on this list is really a tribute to two decades of consistency, not a genuine India prediction. He belongs in any conversation about Kerala’s greatest domestic cricketers. The Asia Cup conversation is a different one entirely.

Why the 2027 Asia Cup Changes Who Actually Has a Shot

This detail matters more than most fans realise. The next Men’s Asia Cup runs from June 18 to July 4, 2027 in Bangladesh, and it flips back to the 50-over ODI format after 2025’s T20 edition.

That single change reshuffles the pecking order among KCL’s India hopefuls. T20I strike rate alone will not carry as much weight as List A form, bowling economy across 10-over spells, and proven ODI temperament.

It is a big reason Vishnu Vinod’s Vijay Hazare heroics and Mohammed Azharuddeen’s growing First-Class average matter just as much as their T20 numbers here. It is also why Sanju Samson’s ODI average of 56.67, built on a small sample, could count for more than his T20 World Cup exploits when the selectors sit down closer to 2027.

India go into the tournament as two-time defending champions, having won the 2023 ODI edition and the 2025 T20 edition. Bangladesh, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan and one associate nation complete the six-team field.

KCL 2026 Auction: How the Market Rated Them

Money spent in a franchise auction is never a perfect proxy for international readiness, but it is a decent snapshot of who Kerala’s own cricket ecosystem rates highest right now. Here is how the top buys at the July 2026 auction stacked up.

Worth noting: neither Sanju Samson nor Mohammed Azharuddeen appear on this specific price list. Samson opted out of the auction entirely, while Azharuddeen was retained by Alleppey Ripples for ₹7.5 lakh before the open bidding even began, a separate process reserved for a franchise’s core players.

The Bottom Line: Sanju Samson Remains Strong Contender for Asia Cup selection

Sanju Samson remains Kerala’s clearest Asia Cup contender, but only if India’s selectors bring him back into the white-ball fold.

Mohammed Azharuddeen and Vishnu Vinod have the List A form the 2027 ODI format actually rewards. 

MD Nidheesh and Sachin Baby deserve every bit of respect for what they have given Kerala cricket, though a maiden India cap at their age remains unlikely. Keep an eye on KCL 2026, starting August 20, since another big season could shift these odds fast.