Rajasthan Royals confirm Rahul Dravid as their next head coach

Rajasthan Royals confirmed Rahul Dravid as the head coach of the franchise on Friday (September 6). The former Indian cricketer had been closely associated with the Royals before. He featured for them as a player from 2011 to 2013, also captaining them in the last two years, taking over the captaincy reigns from Shane Warne. 

The Royals finished seventh under Dravid’s captaincy in 2012 but reached Qualifier 2 in the subsequent season in 2013 and also advanced to the Champions League final later that year. Dravid then took on the mentorship role for the 2014 and 2015 season before the Royals faced a two-year suspension. During this time, Dravid was associated with Delhi Daredevils as a mentor and later joined Indian coaching setup which ended with a T20 World Cup trophy 2024. 

Dravid will work alongside his former opponent Kumar Sangakkara, who is the Director of Cricket at the franchise and served as the head coach for the past four years. The duo have played 45 international matches against each other and will now join hands to lift the Royals to their second title and first since the inaugural edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) in 2008. 

"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," Sangakkara said.

"I've already had some meaningful conversations with him about his vision for this team, and he is looking forward to delivering the results for the Royals."

Sanju Samson, the current Royals’ skipper made his debut under Dravid’s captaincy in 2013. Now Dravid returns to the franchise with Samson progressing to the captaincy role and also having played quite a few games for India under Dravid’s coaching. 

Speaking about his return to the Royals, Dravid said, "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."

"A lot of hard work and deliberations from Manoj (Badale), Jake (Lush McCrum), Kumar and the team has gone into the progression that the franchise has made over the past few years. It's an exciting opportunity for us to take this team to the next level given the kind of talent and resources we have at our disposal and I'm looking forward to getting started."

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