We need to do well in all three formats, says new Kerala head coach Swapnil Asnodkar

Swapnil Asnodkar is the new head coach of Kerala. | Photo Credit: P.K. Ajith Kumar

Eighteen years later, Swapnil Asnodkar still remembers that loose shot he played against Sreekumar Nair at Palakkad. It is, after all, not every day that you get a chance to score a double hundred.

After opening the innings for Goa, he was dismissed for 191 against Kerala in that Ranji Trophy match in the 2008-09 season. He was the Goan captain then and enjoyed his team’s battles with Kerala. Now he is glad that he is coaching Kerala.

“I am looking forward to this game and the wicket looks good,” Asnodkar told Sportstar on the eve of Kerala’s first Ranji match of the season, against Jharkhand, starting here on Sunday. “We are ready for it. It is up to the boys now to go and express themselves.”

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Having worked with the Kerala Under-23 side, Asnodkar was only happy to take up the offer to coach the senior team. The goal he has set for the team is not just for the Ranji Trophy. “We need to do well in all the formats,” he said. “And we are not thinking about things like qualifying for the knockout at the moment.”

Asnodkar is glad that Jalaj Saxena and Aditya Sarwate have returned to the side. “Their return takes care of our spin attack,” he said. “It is good to have such experience in the team.”

He is also banking on the experience of Sachin Baby, the key man in batting. “He has been playing for the last 17 years,” he said. “And he is looking hungry.”