IPL 2025: Rahul Dravid To Become New Head Coach Of Rajasthan Royals, Says Report
Former Team India head coach Rahul Dravid is all set to officially return to the Indian Premier League (IPL) as he will be heading back to his former side Rajasthan Royals for the upcoming IPL 2025 season. Dravid’s tenure as the Team India head coach ended with India’s win in the T20 World Cup 2024 earlier this year.
According to a report a report on ESPNCricinfo website, Dravid will be Rajasthan Royals new head coach for the IPL 2025 season. The report said that Dravid had officially inked a deal to return to the franchise which he captained in the 2012 and 2013 season.
Former India captain has enjoyed a long-standing working relationship with current RR captain Sanju Samson, who came through the Under-19 cricket on Dravid’s watch. Dravid has a long history with RR as well.
He was their captain in IPL 2012 and 2013, and served as team director and mentor in the 2014 and 2015 seasons. In 2016, Dravid moved to Delhi Daredevils (now Delhi Capitals) until he became the head of the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bengaluru in 2019. In 2021, he was appointed head coach of the India men’s team and ended his three-year stint with their first ICC title in 11 years.
RAJASTHAN ROYALS UPDATES…!!!! [Espn Cricinfo]
– Rahul Dravid as Head Coach.
– Kumar Sangakkara as Director of cricket.
– Vikram Rathour as Assistant Coach. pic.twitter.com/4ryChbUA5m
— Johns. (@CricCrazyJohns) September 4, 2024
Dravid will be reunited with his Team india batting coach Vikram Rathour at the Royals as well. The report added that RR are also likely to bring Rathour on board as one of Dravid’s assistant coaches.
Former India opener Rathour is a former India selector and was part of Dravid’s coaching staff at NCA before he became India’s batting coach from 2019.
Dravid will take charge of the Rajasthan Royals in the IPL while former Sri Lanka captain Kumar Sangakkara, who is RR director of cricket since 2021 will continue with the franchise and look after their teams in other leagues around the world – Paarl Royals in the SA20 and Barbados Royals in the Caribbean Premier League (CPL).
Samson’s Royals have not won the IPL title since the inaugural season in 2008 under the late Shane Warne. Their best finish since then was in 2022 when they ended runners-up to Hardik Pandya-led Gujarat Titans. They failed to make the playoffs in 2023, finishing fifth in the league despite a terrific start to the season, but did so in 2024 and were knocked out in Qualifier 2.
