In the 1970s and 80s, Team India was dominated by legendary bowlers like Kapil Dev and Bishan Singh Bedi. This was followed by the great leg-spinner Anil Kumble in the 1990s as well as fast bowlers like Javagal Srinath, Venkatesh Prasad and Ajit Agarkar. During this time many names faded away. One of these names is Salil Ankola. The former Mumbai pacer made his international debut in 1989 alongside Sachin Tendulkar. He played one Test and 20 ODIs before being dropped from Team India. Now he has expressed the pain of being dropped from the team.
Speaking to Cricbuzz, Salil Ankola said, “I was dropped from the Indian team at one point and selected for India A only for carrying drinks. From 2001 onwards, I was completely away from cricket. One big mistake I made in 2001 was that Sony offered me a job in cricket and I declined. I don’t know why I don’t know why I made such a stupid decision, but I refused. Maybe I hated cricket so much that I stopped watching the game.
In 2010, Ankola faced a lot of turmoil in her personal life. The former India fast bowler got addicted to alcohol after separating from his first wife and children. After a decade of rehab and getting his life back on track, Ankola chose cricket again and became Mumbai’s chief selector last year.
Regarding this, Ankola said, “I was about 52 years old then. Once you cross 50, your perception changes. I don’t know how and why, but it happens. You realize that you were adamant about a lot of things, but those things didn’t really make sense. They are only bothering you. I had already made up my mind not to go back to cricket, but in reality, I was really missing cricket.”
With the help of his former teammates, Ankola slowly rejoined cricket. He said, “I wanted to come back as a coach, but when I saw what the scenario was, I realized that coaching was not my thing. There is a huge difference between coaching in the 1990s and coaching now. I had also enrolled for a level 2 coach in NCA, but then I wrote a letter to Rahul Dravid and said that I will not be able to come because I do not see myself as a coach. I don’t have that much patience, I’m a very angry man.”