For now, the deal is for one year, beginning on August 13 and covering Kenya’s participation in the ICC Division 2 Challenge League in September (against Papua New Guinea, Qatar, Denmark, and Jersey), as well as the T20 World Cup Africa Qualifiers in October.
“We need to start practicing and improving before we can hope to qualify for the World Cups, both in ODIs and T20Is. The signals are encouraging, and we have begun preparing,” Ganesh said from Nairobi. “I’m watching local league games since there isn’t much time left [until the first tournament]. There are going to be fitness assessments. We’ll start the procedure gradually.”
Ganesh, who is now 51, represented India five times, in four Tests and one One-Day International (ODI), from January to April 1997. Despite his minimal success, he managed to take five wickets in seven Test bowling innings and one wicket in his lone ODI. On the other hand, he played a significant amount of first-class and List A cricket for Karnataka, beginning in the 1994–95 season and ending in the 2004–05 season. He represented the state cricket team with distinction for many years. In 104 first-class matches and 89 List A matches, he claimed 365 wickets.
The relationship with Kenya dates all the way back to 2000. At that time, Brijesh Patel, the secretary of the Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA), made arrangements for the state side to play a series of limited-overs matches in Kenya. At that time, Ganesh participated in seven matches in Nairobi and Mombasa, winning four of them at three wickets, including a six-wicket haul against an XI from the Kenya Cricket Association.
Former Kenyan internationals Lameck Onyango and Joseph Angara will help Ganesh in his new role.
Kenya was once a rising star in global cricket, as seen by their performance in the 2003 global Cup semifinals (in southern Africa). However, since then, off-field problems, like as allegations of corruption and the possibility of a players’ strike in 2010, have been the main cause of their decline. They were granted ICC Associate status in 1981 and ODI status in 1996. However, even though they participated in five straight ODI World Cups until 2007, they were not granted ODI status until 2014, when they placed fifth in the World Cup qualifying round. They were coached by Sandeep Patil, another Indian, as they advanced to the 2003 World Cup semifinal.
