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The Nairobian

Ganesh: This is what I will do to ensure we book World Cup slot

Cricket

By Ochieng Oyugi | Aug 14, 2024

My mission is to take Kenya back to the World Cup, that's where this country belongs!

This was the opening statement of the new Kenya cricket men's national team head coach Dodda Ganesh who was unveiled in Nairobi yesterday.

The former Indian international is excited to coach Kenya, saying it has been part of his vision ever since he interacted with a section of Kenyan players during his tour of the country with eight times Indian ( Ranji Trophy) champions Karnataka Cricket Team in 1999 and 2000.

"I'm pretty thrilled to be here, Kenyan players are more friendly and they are passionate about the game too," said Ganesh who has over 25 year experience in the game, both as a player and a coach.

Ganesh's World Cup qualifying journey with Kenya starts in less than two weeks at the ICC Division 2 Challenge League slated for the Nairobi Gymkhana next month.

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The showpiece will feature Kenya, Papua New Guinea, Denmark, Kuwait, Jersey and Qatar.

"Hosting some of these matches here gives the country a good chance to make it to the World Cup.

"The trick will be to utilise home advantage to our favour," he said.

In his journey to the gruelling World Cup qualifiers, Ganesh is advocating to play as many matches as possible, he is also calling for an effective staff support system including an able technical bench that will help his players with match simulations, workouts, practices, schedules, fitness and tactical skills.

"I watched Kenya play in the World Cup in 1996,1999, 2003 and 2011. I'm not sure what happened in between the ten year period to now, but now my work is cut out, we have to get there (at the World Cup) at any cost," he declared.

Ganesh will be helped in this epic journey of World Cup qualifying with a seven member Elite Sub Committee for the National Squads headed by Narendra Patel.

The Committee was also unveiled by Cricket Kenya yesterday and their mandate will be to oversee affairs of the national team including all technical aspects of preparations and other important responsibilities.

Meanwhile, former England player Ian Bell was named yesterday as Sri Lanka's batting coach for the three-match Test series against England.

Sri Lanka Cricket said the 42-year-old former right-hand batter was hired to draw on his experience of playing 118 Tests for England.

"We appointed Ian to bring in a person with local knowledge to help the players with key insights on the conditions there," Sri Lanka Cricket chief executive Ashley de Silva said.

"We believe his inputs will help our team in this crucial tour."

Sri Lanka appointed former skipper Sanath Jayasuriya last month to replace head coach Chris Silverwood, who quit after the T20 World Cup. [Additional reporting from AFP]