Ankola was born into a Maharashtrian Brahmin family in 1968.He 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.