Kerala announce Santosh Trophy squad

The Kerala Football Association president K.M.I. Mather and secretary K.P. Sunny today announced the state's 20 member squad for the upcoming 65th Santosh Trophy in Assam. Seasoned midfielder Bijesh Ben has been named the state teams captain, which will be coached by M. Rajeev Kumar.

Kerala will go into the Santosh Trophy with a rather inexperienced side with no player from Viva Kerala, while there are also young district players in the squad.

The 65th edition of the Santosh Trophy will be held from May 6 to 30 across Assam in the seven cities of Guwahati, Nagaon, Mangaldoi, Tinsukia, Shivsagar, Kokrajhar and Bongalgaon. In this years edition Kerala have been placed in Cluster 4 along with Jammu&Kashmir, Jharkhand, Chandigarh in the preliminary stage.


KERALA

Goalkeepers
Joby Joseph (Travancore Titanium), Shabeer P.M. (Josco FC), Noufal (Kozhikode)

Defenders
Johnson N. (State Bank of Travancore), Nawaz (Josco FC), Sajith T. (Josco FC), B.T. Sarath (State Bank of Travancore), Satheesh (Kollam), Surjith V.V. (Kerala State Electricity Board)

Midfielders
Bijesh Ben (Central Excise), Martin John (State Bank of Travancore), Rahul P. (Kerala Police), Muhammed Rasi (Kerala State Electricity Board), Sumesh N. (State Bank of Travancore), Vinod (Travancore Titanium)

Forwards
Firoz K. (Kerala Police), Rakesh K. (Kerala State Electricity Board), Kannan R. (AGS), Sumesh A.M. (Eagles FC), Usman (Malabar United FC)

Officials
M. Rajeev Kumar (Coach), Solly Xavier (Assistant Coach), Fazil (Physio)