Hyderabad: Rajasthan Royals have announced that Rahul Dravid will work as the head coach of the franchise for the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025. The franchise revealed through an official statement that Dravid will take over as the head coach with immediate effect and will play a key role in the planning for the 2025 IPL season.
The release from the franchise revealed the details.
“Royals Sports Group-owned franchise Rajasthan Royals today announced the appointment of former Indian captain and coach Rahul Dravid as Head Coach on a multi-year contract. The former Royals' captain and coach spent five seasons with the franchise from 2011 to 2015, and will commence with the team immediately, working with Royals' Director of Cricket Kumar Sangakkara to implement the franchise's overall cricketing strategy,” the release said.
Rahul Dravid, India's legendary World Cup-winning coach, is set for a sensational return to Rajasthan Royals! 🇮🇳🤝
— Rajasthan Royals (@rajasthanroyals) September 6, 2024
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
“51-year-old Dravid, who is inarguably one of the greatest batters to have represented India, began his coaching career with the Royals back in 2014 when he transitioned from serving as the captain to being the team's mentor. Since then, Dravid has been involved in various capacities with the National Cricket Academy (NCA), the Indian Men's U19 and the Indian Men's Senior team, leading the nation to the top of the Test, ODI and T20I rankings during his tenure, and topping it up with the ICC Men's T20 World Cup crown recently.”
Kumar Sangakkara 🤝 Rahul Dravid 🔥💗
— Rajasthan Royals (@rajasthanroyals) September 6, 2024
This is going to be exciting! 😍 pic.twitter.com/eAN4cvZsG1
Dravid enjoys a long working relationship with the franchise. He led the team in IPL in 2012 and 2013 and served as their mentor and Director of cricket in 2014 and 2015. The former Indian cricketer spent four more seasons as the head coach in the tournament.
Director of Cricket Kumar Sangakkara welcomed Dravid saying his skill in nurturing talent will help the franchise perform well.
"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. 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."
