New Delhi, July 1 (IANS) Former Andhra pacer Doddapaneni Kalyankrishna has been appointed as the state’s Director of Cricket Operations, said the Andhra Cricket Association (ACA) on Wednesday.

Kalyan Krishna, who played 51 first-class games, 42 List A matches and 16 T20 games and picked 217 scalps overall, will be leading the charge of strengthening cricket operations and driving future growth in the state’s cricketing ecosystem.

The appointment was confirmed by ACA at its Annual General Meeting (AGM) held in Mangalagiri. “The ACA looks forward to his visionary leadership in strengthening our cricket operations and driving sustainable future growth for the sport in the region,” said the ACA in its statement.

Speaking to IANS, Kalyan Krishna, who was in the now-defunct Deccan Chargers set-up in IPL 2008 and has been a regular broadcaster on Star Sports Telugu feed, thanked ACA President Kesineni Sivanath and Secretary Sana Sathish Babu for appointing him to the role.

“I am very grateful to the President and Secretary of the ACA for the faith they have shown in me in appointing me to this role. I was there in the Andhra team as a player and now I am back with the set-up in an off-field role. It’s a dream for every player to give back to the game after the end of playing time and I am very fortunate to be in a position to do so now,” he said.

Kalyan Krishna also will be working with Gary Stead, the Andhra head coach, to formulate strategy for the 2026/27 domestic season. “It’s like a career shift for me – I have made a good reputation so far as a commentator at Star Sports and now to take up this role, it’s a very big challenge for me

“But I am sure I will do full justice to it and will continue to expand the good work done by ACA so far in spreading the sport’s reach in the state in both men’s and women’s cricket and produce more players who can go on to represent India,” he added.

–IANS

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