National team skipper Rakep Patel steps down

Kenya’s national cricket team captain, Rakep Patel, relinquished his position after the last game of the ICC Word Cricket League Division Two in Namibia on February 15, 2018.

Rakep’s phone went an answered Tuesday, but the team coach, Thomas Odoyo, said that Rakep had requested to step down as captain in the last two matches, but waited till the end of the tournament to announce his resignation.

In October 2015, Rakep and other players revolted against their coaches, Steve Tikolo and Martin Suji, accusing the two former international players of high-handedness.

Both Tikolo and Suji voluntarily stepped down in what they said was in "the best interest of the game”.

The duo remained in limbo for five months before Cricket Kenya sacked them in April 2016, arguing ‘failure to get a role for them in the association, even though Tikolo was one of the best batsmen Kenya has ever produced, with his Nairobi Provincial Cricket Association (NPCA) league record of 1950 runs set in 1995 still intact.

Suji was also Kenya’s opening bowler who could also bat.

Tikolo was hired by Uganda as their national team coach, while Suji coaches at Peponi School, Ruiru.

Cricket Kenya’s decision to side with the players has come back to haunt them as the poor show in Namibia, where Kenya lost all her matches, is said to have contributed to the the resignation of CK chairlady Jackie Janmohamed and the director of development, Abhijeet Raja Sarkar.

They both tendered their resignation letters on Saturday.

Odoyo also resigned as interim national team coach when the team arrived from Namibia on Saturday. He said that he did not want anything to do with the national team.

According to Odoyo, the week he spent in Namibia with the boys was torturous. He said the players failed to follow his instructions.