Former India and Karnataka bowler, Dodda Ganesh has been appointed as the new head coach of the Kenya cricket team. Ganesh had very minimal experience playing for the Indian team, featuring in just five games overall.
However, the medium pacer has vast experience at the domestic level having played in List A and first-class cricket for almost a decade. He picked up over 350 wickets in over 100 games at the first-class level.
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Ganesh’s first assignment as the new Kenya coach will be to lead the team in the upcoming ICC Division 2 Challenge League in September. The league consists of Papua New Guinea, Denmark, Qatar and Jersey, following which Kenya will play in the IC T20 World Cup 2026 Africa Qualifiers in October.
Ganesh has been signed by the Cricket Board of Kenya on a one-year contract. Talking to ESPNcricinfo, Ganesh said that the team would aim to secure qualification for the T20 and ODI World Cups.
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. 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.
In today’s story, The Sporting News takes a look at five instances when an Indian coach coached an overseas team.
Which Indian coaches have managed overseas teams?
Lalchand Rajput
Just like Ganesh, former cricketer Lalchand Rajput didn’t have great success with the Indian team but was considered one of the greatest openers to have played domestic cricket in India.
Rajput has coached three overseas teams in Afghanistan, Zimbabwe and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). He replaced Inzamam ul Haq as the head coach of Afghanistan in 2016, served as the interim coach of Zimbabwe in 2022 and is currently serving as UAE coach since February 2024.
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Sandeep Patil
Sandeep Patil played as a batter for India in the 1980s and was an integral member of the 1983 World Cup-winning team. Patil amassed a decent record as an international player, featuring in over 70 games for India overall. He scored more than 100 runs in both Tests and ODIs.
Apart from coaching the Indian team, Patil also coached Kenya during the 2003 World Cup. Kenya had managed to reach the semi-final of that tournament before getting knocked out by India. It remains the country’s greatest achievement in cricket.
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Robin Singh
Robin Singh is another cricketer who represented India at the international level before getting into coaching. He managed the India U19 side, even coaching and grooming big names like current India head coach Gautam Gambhir and Robin Utahppa.
Apart from the Indian team, Robin managed the USA and Hong Kong cricket teams. In 2020, the former player was appointed as the Director of UAE cricket.
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Sameer Dighe
Having played in over 80 first-class games and 20 ODI games for India, Sameer Dighe was appointed as the coach of the Hong Kong team for the ICC World Cricket League Division Three in 2007. He was appointed by replacing Robin Singh as head coach.
Apart from coaching Hong Kong, Dighe served as IPL side Mumbai Indians’ (MI) fielding coach in the 2008 season.
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Hanumant Singh
Hanumant Singh represented India in 14 Tests, scoring 686 runs at an average of over 30. He also became the fifth Test player in history to score a century on debut.
Hanumant took the helm of the Kenyan team as coach in early 1990. He also coached the side in the 1996 Cricket World Cup which was won by Sri Lanka.
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