Ex-India coach Rahul Dravid to return to IPL, will join…

Rahul Dravid, the ex-India head coach, is expected to join the Rajasthan Royals (RR) once again in the 2025 season as the head coach. This came after the successful coaching period of India’s team T20 World Cup in June 2024.

He has already been engaged in some talks concerning the player retentions before the mega auction.

RR’s connection with Dravid goes to 2012 and 2013 when he was the captain of the team. He later took up the team director and a mentor during the 2014/2015 season. In 2021, he was given the role of head coach of India men’s team and took them to an ICC title after 11 years.

The appointment of Dravid as the head of RR is considered as a master-stroke to strengthen the team. RR have not tasted the success of IPL title since their maiden season triumph in 2008 and their best performance in recent years was IPL runner-up in 2022. Although the team had a good beginning in the 2023 season, the team did not qualify for the playoffs. But they managed to qualify for playoffs in 2024 but were eliminated in Qualifier 2.

Besides Dravid, RR are also expected to rope in former India cricketer Vikram Rathour as one of the assistant coaches to Dravid. Rathour, who was involved in Dravid’s coaching set up at the National Cricket Academy before he joined as the batting coach of India in 2019.

Kumar Sangakkara, who has been appointed RR’s director of cricket since 2021, will also remain the same, managing the franchise’s other teams in other leagues like the Paarl Royals in the SA20 and Barbados Royals in the CPL.

The fans eagerly await the return of Rahul Dravid to the Rajasthan Royals and expect him to bring in a new leadership and strategies to the team as they look forward to regaining their lost glory in the IPL.