Salil Ankola

Salil Ashok Ankola (; born 1 March 1968) is a former international cricketer who played one Test match and 20 One Day Internationals (ODIs) from 1989 to 1997 for India. A right-arm fast-medium bowler, he played first-class cricket for Mumbai, regularly opening the bowling. Ankola's consistency for Mumbai team earned him a spot for representing India during their tour of Pakistan in 1989–90. After the first Test match at Karachi, he was dropped for the subsequent matches in the series owing to injuries. After a brief phase of playing first-class cricket, Ankola was called for the Indian ODI team during 1993, eventually led to being a part of the 1996 Cricket World Cup. At 28, Ankola retired from international cricket to pursue acting. Since then he went on to appear in a number of Indian soap operas and a few Hindi films. In 2020, he was selected as the chief selector of the Mumbai Cricket Association. He was a selector of the National team from January 2023 till August 2024.

Cricketing career

Early achievements

Born in 1968 into a south Indian Konkani-speaking family which hails from the town of Ankola in Uttara Kannada district of Karnataka, Salil Ankola made his first-class debut at the age of 20 for Maharashtra in 1988–89. Playing against Gujarat he scored 43 runs and took a six-wicket haul (six wickets in an innings) that included a hat-trick. He followed with another six-wicket haul; six wickets for 51 runs in an innings against Baroda. Overall, he collected 27 wickets at an average of 20.18 including three five wicket hauls during the season. Owing to the consistent performances during the season, Ankola caught the attention of the selectors, as he was selected for the India's tour of Pakistan in 1989–90. In a warm up match against BCCP Patron's XI he took six wickets for 77 runs in the first innings and collecting two more wickets in the second innings, thus taking his tally to eight wickets.

First class cricket Ankola made his Test debut during the first test of the tour at Karachi, alongside Sachin Tendulkar and Waqar Younis, both would go on to become successful cricketers later in their careers. In a match that was drawn, Ankola took two wickets for 128 runs. Injuries sustained thereafter and prevented him from appearing in the remaining Tests of the series. In the next match, he bowled just 2.3 overs (15 balls) before the match was called off due to crowd disruption. Despite being selected in the Test squads on domestic series and overseas tours, he never got an opportunity to play for the team. Being dropped from the team without getting a game was known in cricket circles as being "Ankolad". However, Ankola continued to play ODI cricket. In the early 1990s, he along with other bowlers such as Abey Kuruvilla, Paras Mhambrey, Nilesh Kulkarni and Sairaj Bahutule was trained under Frank Tyson. Ankola mainly worked on altering his style rather than pace.

During this period, Ankola married Parineeta; the couple has two children—a daughter and a son. In a match against South Africa during the 1993 Hero Cup, he captured three wickets for 33 runs, which remained his career-best bowling figures in ODIs.

In 1996, Ankola was selected in the Indian team for the World Cup. In the tournament he played just one match against Sri Lanka. In a match that India lost, he conceded 28 runs off five overs without claiming any wicket. Shortly after the World Cup, the selectors with immediate effect dropped Ankola along with Vinod Kambli and all-rounder Manoj Prabhakar—all were a part of the squad earlier—for the Singer cup and Pepsi Sharjah Cup. Ankola was replaced by medium-fast bowler Prashant Vaidya. he played five games in the tournament against South Africa and Zimbabwe. In the finals against South Africa that India lost, Ankola conceded 50 runs in seven overs in what became his last match; The tour remained his last in international cricket as he was never selected for the team again. Following that, Ankola declared his retirement from international cricket the same year. The squad included Ankola himself along with Mahendra Singh Dhoni, captain of the Indian national cricket team then. A writer noted that, "Salil Ankola is indeed fortunate. Not many players get to witness an unexpected visitor in the form of the current India captain turning up for his benefit match". where he played the role of a cop accompanying his senior officer played by Sanjay Dutt. and his last major release Chura Liyaa Hai Tumne (2003) featured him alongside Esha Deol and Zayed Khan. The following year he acted in Silence Please...The Dressing Room, where he played the character of a cricket captain. The film did not fare well at the box-office, nonetheless Ankola's performance was highly appreciated. Since he appeared in Bigg Boss before the contract would expire—one year from June 2006—the Bombay High Court ordered him not to act in any TV shows on other channels that are considered rivals for Sony Television. Ssshhhh...Koi Hai and Kora Kagaz are some of the other soap operas that he has acted.

In February 2013, Salil was seen as Savitri's father in the daily show Savitri but was replaced by Shahbaz Khan in August 2013 after a revamp of the show.

Filmography 2000: Kurukshetra 2002: Pitaah 2003: Chura Liyaa Hai Tumne 2004: Silence Please...The Dressing Room 2012: Riwayat 2018: Tera Intezaar 2019: Ekta 2021: The Power 2024: Pambattam (Tamil)

Television Year Name Role Notes Ref 1997–1999 Chahat Aur Nafrat Vishal 1997 Saturday Suspense Tenent 1998–2000 Lekin... Woh Sach Tha 1998–1999 Kora Kagaz Ravi 1999 Rishtey 2000–2001 Noorjahan Yusuf Chak 2002–2005 Kehta Hai Dil Ranveer Rathore / Sandeep Jain / Shakti Singh 2003 Ssshhhh...Koi Hai Vikral 2003–2004 Vikraal Aur Gabraal Vikraal 2005 Zindagi Teri Meri Kahani 2005–2006 CID Senior Inspector Akshay 2006 Ak...tion Unlimited Josh 2006 Fear Factor India Contestant 2006 Bigg Boss 1 Contestant Ejected, Day 6 2006–2009 Karam Apnaa Apnaa Mahen Kapoor 2009–2010 Pyaar Ka Bandhan Vikram 2013 Savitri - EK Prem Kahani Maharaj 2013 Savdhaan India Kunal Singh 2014 Box Cricket League 1 Contestant 2015 Power Couple 1 Contestant with second wife Ria 2016–2018 Karmaphal Daata Shani Surya Dev 2020 Devi Adi Parashakti Surya Dev 2022 Kitchen Kallakar Contestant Winner

Background and personal life Salil was born in 1968 into a Karnataka Konkani-speaking family which hails from the town of Ankola in Uttara Kannada district of Karnataka.

In 2008, it was reported that Ankola has been suffering from depression and was enrolled in a rehabilitation centre in Pune. The reason behind the illness was believed to be his severe addiction to alcohol. The couple finally got divorced in 2011. On 22 December 2013, Parineeta's body was found hanging from the ceiling fan of her room at her residence in Geeta Society, Salisbury Park, in Pune.