Dodda Ganesh appointed as the new head coach of Kenya

Dodda Ganesh, the former Indian and Karnataka medium pacer, recently accepted the prestigious role of head coach for the Kenya men's cricket team.

It's a one-year contract for the moment, starting August 13, and will take in, to start with, Kenya's campaigns at the ICC Division 2 Challenge League in September, where they will face Papua New Guinea, Qatar, Denmark and Jersey, followed by the T20 World Cup Africa Qualifiers in October.

"The objective is to qualify for the World Cups, both ODIs and T20Is, but before that we need to start preparing and start making progress. We have started preparing, and the signs are good," Ganesh told ESPNcricinfo from Nairobi. "We got hardly any time left [for the first tournament], so I am watching local league matches. There will be fitness tests. We will slowly get into a process."

Ganesh, now 51, played five times for India - four Tests and one ODI - between January and April 1997, but had limited success: five wickets in seven bowling innings in Tests and one wicket in his only ODI. He, however, served Karnataka cricket with distinction for many years, playing most of his first-class and List A cricket for them in a career that started in the 1994-95 season and lasted till 2004-05. He picked up 365 wickets in 104 first-class matches, and 128 in 89 List A matches.

Privileged to be named the head coach of the Kenya cricket team. https://t.co/SHVUFFjzrL

The association with Kenya goes back a long way, all the way to 2000. That was when then Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA) secretary Brijesh Patel arranged for the state team to tour Kenya for a series of limited-overs matches. Ganesh played seven games then, in Nairobi and Mombasa, and had four three-wicket hauls, including a 6 for 31 against a Kenya Cricket Association XI team.

"We played some games there… that time I performed well," Ganesh said. "I am familiar with the conditions here and am comfortable working here. Kenya Cricket is being very helpful, and I hope to do what I have been assigned."

Following his retirement, Ganesh dabbled in politics before turning to cricket coaching. He has worked with Goa and Manipur in the domestic circuit, and as a coach at the KSCA academy, and also been a part of the association's cricket advisory committee.

In his new job, Ganesh will be assisted by former Kenya internationals Lameck Onyango and Joseph Angara.

Kenya, once an emerging force in world cricket, highlighted by the semi-final appearance at the 2003 World Cup (in southern Africa), have been on a downward spiral since, off-field issues - including reports of corruption and the threat of a players' strike in 2010 - the primary reason. They had earned ICC Associate status in 1981, and ODI status in 1996, but despite playing five consecutive ODI World Cups, up to 2007, they lost ODI status in 2014 after finishing fifth in the World Cup qualifiers. When they reached the World Cup semi-final in 2003, they were coached by another Indian, Sandeep Patil.