Where is Swapnil Asnodkar now? Rajasthan Royals' IPL 2008 star goes into oblivion

Indian first-class cricketer Swapnil Asnodkar was one of the crucial members of the Rajasthan Royals’ successful Indian Premier League 2008 (IPL 2008) campaign. The then youngster formed a strong opening partnership with South African captain Graeme Smith throughout the tournament. The hard-hitting opening batsman scored 311 runs at 34.55 in his maiden IPL season, including a quickfire 28 against Chennai Super Kings in the final.

Due to his boisterous exploits with the bat in IPL 2008, Swapnil Asnodkar was dubbed by many experts as one of the stars to represent India in the future. However, the cricketer was forced into oblivion upon repeated rejections and limited opportunities in the subsequent IPL seasons. Here is a look at some insights regarding where is Swapnil Asnodkar now and an overall roundup of his cricketing career.

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Where is Swapnil Asnodkar now? What has the cricketer been upto?

To answer the 'Where is Swapnil Asnodkar now?' query, it is important to know the happenings in his life besides his IPL career. Swapnil Asnodkar is a veteran in first-class cricket by having played 88 matches for his home team Goa. He made his Ranji Trophy debut in 2001 and continued to be one of Goa’s prolific run-scorers until he was dropped in 2017. In an interview with the Hindustan Times in 2018, Swapnil Asnodkar stated that he was dropped from the team despite of scoring heaps of runs for Goa, simply because they wanted to invest in young cricketers.

He added that he has stopped giving his name for IPL auctions because he has not been picked by any of the franchises for many years. While getting axed from Goa was a setback for him, Swapnil Asnodkar is still trying his best to make a comeback into the team. He is currently playing lower-division cricket and is working on his fitness. In the interview, Swapnil Asnodkar stated that as he waits for a call-up from Goa selectors, he will also be applying his names for other Ranji Trophy teams in the meantime for the upcoming 2020-21 season.

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Where is Swapnil Asnodkar now? Swapnil Asnodkar’s career stats

In IPL 2008, Swapnil Asnodkar played alongside legendary Australian spinner Shane Warne and future Indian stars Ravindra Jadeja and Yusuf Pathan. In all, he played 20 IPL matches to score 423 runs with two fifties. He was let go by Rajasthan Royals after the 2010 season.

Meanwhile, in 88 first-class matches, the right-handed batsman scored 5,883 runs at a healthy average of 40.02. He has registered 14 centuries and 25 half-centuries across 157 first-class innings. Swapnil Asnodkar has also played 85 List A matches to score 2,858 runs and another 73 T20 matches where he stockpiled 1,699 runs at a strike-rate of 124.19.

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Image credit: PTI