Former India cricketer Rahul Dravid, on Friday, was officially confirmed as the head coach of the Rajasthan Royals. Dravid recently stepped down from his position as the head coach of the Indian men’s cricket team after his tenure ended with the T20 World Cup title triumph in Barbados on June 29.
Dravid has a long history with the Royals. Having joined the franchise in 2011, following a three-year stint at the Royal Challengers Bangalore, Dravid was named as the captain for the 2012 and 2013 season, before serving as the team director and mentor in the 2014 and 2015 seasons.
In the following season, he moved to Delhi Daredevils (now Delhi Capitals), before joining BCCI’s National Cricket Academy in Bengaluru as the head in 2019. In between, he also served as the head coach of the India A team and the U-19 side, which included a World Cup win with the latter side in 2018. Later in 2021, he succeeded Ravi Shastri as the head coach of the Indian men’s team, and ended his tenure with India’s first world title in 13 years.
The rumours about RR approaching Dravid have long been in the media, with few reports even claiming that the former India head coach was approached by Kolkata Knight Riders as a replacement for Gautam Gambhir, who left the mentor’s role to coach the Indian team. However, Rajasthan made the announcement on their social media handle with a picture of the India great being handed the franchise’s pink jersey by the Royals Sports Group CEO Jake Lush McCrum after Dravid signed the deal in Bengaluru.
Rahul Dravid takes up “perfect challenge”
Rajasthan have not won the IPL trophy since lifting the title in the inaugural edition of the tournament in 2008 under late great Shane Warne. They did come close to ending the drought in 2022, when Sanju Samson led the side to the final, but ended up as runners-up to Gujarat Titans. In 2023, Rajasthan had made a terrific start to the season, but failed to make playoffs after finishing fifth. However, in the following season, they did make amends to make the top four, but were knocked out in Qualifier 2.
Following the T20 World Cup triumph, Dravid, speaking to franchise, admitted that he eyes a winning return to the Royals.
“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”, Dravid said.
