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Former India cricketer and head coach, Rahul Dravid is set to return to Rajasthan Royals (RR) as their head coach in Indian Premier League (IPL). However, the official announcement from the Jaipur-based franchise is still awaited, ‘The Wall’ of Indian Test cricket is set to return after a successful stint as Team India head coach with a T20 World Cup 2024 triumph in June.
The 51-year-old, who has been linked with the franchise since his tenure culminated in June 2024, has signed a deal with the Royals. Moreover, as reported by ESPNcricinfo, Dravid has also had initial conversations on player retentions ahead of the IPL 2025 mega auction, scheduled to take place later this year.
While Dravid is set to take the role of Head Coach, former Sri Lanka cricketer, Kumar Sangakkara will continue to serve as the Director of Cricket. Moreover, reports have also added that former India batter, Vikram Rathour is set to join Dravid as RR’s assistant coach.
Rahul Dravid’s association with Rajasthan Royals
The former India cricketer has had a history with RR. The Indian batter was captain of the side in IPL 2012 and 2013 and also served as the Team Director and Mentor in the following editions in 2014 and 2015. Dravid then moved to Delhi Daredevil (now Delhi Capitals) in 2016.
The former India batter was then roped in by Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) as the National Cricket Academy (NCA) head in 2019. He succeeded Ravi Shastri as Team India head coach in 2021 and took the side to World Test Championship (WTC) Final and ODI World Cup final in 2023. With Team India, he also ended the ICC trophy drought as the Rohit Sharma-led Team India clinched the T20 World Cup 2024 in West Indies.
