New Delhi: Rajasthan Royals (RR) has roped in Rahul Dravid as their new head coach ahead of the Indian Premier League 2025. The news was made official by the franchise on Friday. Dravid recently quit as the head coach of the senior men’s Indian cricket team, finishing his tenure with the T20 World Cup 2024 win in the West Indies and the USA in July.
Dravid has been a close acquaintance of the Royals in the IPL before. He has both played and coached for the side. He featured for and captained the side between 2011 and 2013 before converting himself to the role of a mentor in 2014. He has also been a mentor for the Delhi Daredevils (now Delhi Capitals) before he gave up his IPL duties when he was named to coach the U-19 Indian team and India A. This eventually led him to the position of senior men’s team head coach in 2021.
Rahul Dravid, India’s legendary World Cup-winning coach, is set for a sensational return to Rajasthan Royals! 🇮🇳🤝
The cricket icon was captured receiving his Pink jersey from the Royals Sports Group CEO Jake Lush McCrum. It is believed that the RR Admin was present too,… pic.twitter.com/C6Q8KRDFgW
— Rajasthan Royals (@rajasthanroyals) September 6, 2024
Dravid will work closely with Kumar Sangakkara, who was pursuing the dual role of head coach and the Director of Cricket for RR for the last four years. He gets Rahul as the sharer of his workload. On his appointment as head coach, Sangakkara heaped massive praise on Dravid, reflecting on his playing career and achievements over the years.
“Rahul is one of the greatest players to have played the game, but what he has achieved over the past decade as a coach is extraordinary. The characteristics that he possesses as a coach to nurture talent but also enable them to consistently perform at the highest level, will allow the Rajasthan Royals to further challenge for the title,” said Sangakkara.
He further added that he has had some “meaningful conversations” with him about his vision for the Royals and that he is looking forward to delivering the results for them.
Rahul Dravid is coming back to SMS! 🤯💗 pic.twitter.com/CaepUJyKl5
— Rajasthan Royals (@rajasthanroyals) September 6, 2024
Pleased to return home – Dravid
Dravid was nostalgic about his return to the Rajasthan Royals’ setup saying, “I am pleased to be returning to the franchise I have called ‘home’ for a number of years in the past. After the World Cup, I feel it’s the ideal time for me to take on another challenge, and the Royals is the perfect place to do that.
He credited the likes of Manoj Badale (RR owner), Jake Lush McCrum (Royals Sports Group CEO), and Sangakkara for the progression that the team has made over the past few years. He added that it’s an exciting opportunity for them to take them to another level and that he is looking forward to getting started. He is said to have already started the work for the Royals regarding the retentions as all the franchises await the new rules by the BCCI ahead of the auction.
Rahul Dravid has made a return to Rajasthan Royals (RR) ahead of the IPL 2025, this time in the capacity of a head coach. He replaces Kumar Sangakkara, who will now pursue the sole role of RR’s Director of Cricket. Cricket Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
