Monty Desai appointed coach of Andhra Pradesh cricket team

Former Afghanistan batting coach Monty Desai has been appointed as the Head Coach of the Andhra Pradesh State cricket team for the upcoming domestic season.

Desai, who was with the Afghanistan cricket team from January, resigned from the role a couple of months ago due to personal reasons. He is currently the coach (Mentor) of the Lyca Kovai Kings in the ongoing Tamil Nadu Premier League.

Speaking to Sportskeeda, he confirmed the news and spoke about charting the way ahead.

"It's an honor and I would like to thank the management of the Andhra Cricket Association for showing the trust and giving me this responsibility. Coaching a Ranji Trophy side is an opportunity to contribute to the state and indirectly to Indian Cricket as well," he said

"I'm pretty much mindful about the next 8-9 months journey which I'm going to embark upon, which involves all the three formats of the game. The team performed well last season, reaching the semifinals of the Vijay Hazare Trophy and nearly missed out on qualifying for the Ranji Trophy.

"From what I have gathered, the ACA players are skillful, keen on learning, and are trying to make an impact in the national tournaments. I look forward to 1) bringing in my past experience to make a contribution towards building a healthy environment that will allow the players to maximize their potential as an individual as well as the team level and 2) take all the challenges head-on that comes my way,” he concluded.

The Andhra Pradesh cricket team is captained by 23-year-old Hanuma Vihari, who is currently with the India A side which is touring England.

Last year, they missed out on qualifying to the knockout stages of Ranji Trophy, however, they performed much better in the limited-overs tournaments, reaching the semifinals of the Vijay Hazare Trophy.

Monty has abundant experience when it comes to coaching. He was the head talent scout and performance coach of the Rajasthan Royals and Gujarat Lions in the Indian Premier League.

He was also the mentor for former TNPL champions Tuti Patriots, who won the inaugural tournament in 2016 and were runners-up in the finals of 2017 after remaining unbeaten in the league phase.

Earlier this year, he was a part of the Afghanistan side where they won the ICC World Cup Qualifying tournament in Zimbabwe. Afghanistan, along with West Indies, will be taking part in the ten-nation World Cup Tournament next year in England.