'Rahul Dravid's Guiding Ability Boon for Youngsters'

Manager of India A team MV Siva Reddy on Thursday heaped praise on Rahul Dravid, saying that the former India skipper's vast professional experience and guiding ability proved to be a boon for the youngsters.

India A defeated Bangladesh by 2-1 in a recent one-day series.(Dravid Says Big Shots Not Only Option)

"We can find a keen observer and adviser in Dravid, who can do a lot of good to the Indian cricket in the years to come. This experience is helpful for me to guide youngsters, who are learning cricket in Academies of Andhra Cricket Association," he said.(How Dravid is Pujara's Inspiration)

Hailing from Kadapa, Reddy is the vice president of Andhra Cricket Association (ACA) and a member of Information technology subcommittee of BCCI.

Reddy said working with the team and coach Dravid was 'once in a life time' experience.

"Associating with Indian team and working with coach Rahul Dravid is fantastic and both the players and coach were very cooperative throughout the series," Reddy told PTI.

Talking about the series, Reddy said he was quite upset with the result of second one-day match, which his team lost. "Though the team was in a commanding position at 132/2 at one stage, it lost the game. But I am happy as the team won the series 2-1," he said.

Reddy, who is passionate about the game from childhood and played for SV and SK universities, is the president of Kadapa District Cricket Association for the last 25 years and played a key role in developing the game both in the district and state.

On development of the game in the district and state levels, he recalled that Kadapa had hosted an exhibition match between Kapil Dev XI and Mohammad Azharuddin XI, in which all Indian players participated.

He expressed hope that many players from Andhra will knock the doors of the national team within the next three years.