In June of this year, India’s Men in Blue won their first T20 World Cup in seventeen years, making Rahul Dravid’ 17-year run as head coach an unforgettable one. The renowned cricket player will now be rejoining the Rajasthan Royals (RR) in time for the Indian Premier League (IPL) in 2025.
In advance of the upcoming mega auction, Rahul Dravid just inked a contract with the team, and reports that he has had preliminary discussions over player retention. The talisman Royals skipper Sanju Samson, who rose through the under-19 ranks under Dravid’s tutelage, has been a long-time collaborator.
Since he was signed to play for the Royals at the auction in 2011, Dravid and the team have been together. In 2012 and 2013, he captained the inaugural champions as well. Prior to entering the lucrative 2014 edition of the league, he assumed the job of mentor.
Rahul Dravid joined the Delhi Daredevils (now the Delhi Capitals) in 2016, and in 2019 he was appointed head of the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bengaluru.
He took over as head coach of the India men’s team in 2021, and at the end of his three-year tenure, the team won their first ICC championship in eleven years. He is now prepared to lead the Rajasthan Royals as their head coach.
It is believed that Vikram Rathour, a former batter for India, will likely join RR as one of Dravid’s assistant coaches. Before taking over as India’s batting coach in 2019, Rathour, a former India selector, was a member of Dravid’s coaching team at the NCA.
According to the report, Dravid will lead the Rajasthan Royals in the IPL, while Kumar Sangakkara, who has served as the team’s director of cricket since 2021, will manage the other Royals teams, the SA20 side Paarl Royals and the CPL side Barbados Royals.
RR hasn’t taken home the IPL trophy since the inaugural campaign in 2008. They had their second-best finish in 2022, losing the championship match against the Gujarat Titans, who were making their debut. They lost a fantastic start and were unable to get past the round-robin stage of the IPL 2023 competition.
Also Read: IPL 2025: RR’s top 3 players might be released before the mega-auction
They won eight of their first nine games this year, but they lost the final five games they played in the league round. Samson and company had to settle for a position in the Eliminator, where they lost to Sunrisers Hyderabad and defeated Royal Challengers Bengaluru.
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