Rahul Dravid is all set to come back as the head coach of Rajasthan Royals (RR) ahead of the IPL season in 2025, once he finishes his term as the Indian national team coach after winning the T20 World Cup this June.
ESPNcricinfo has it that Dravid recently settled down with the franchise and has had similar talks about player retainment ahead of the upcoming mega auction. He has a long time working association with RR skipper Sanju Samson who was mentored by Dravid during his under-19 days.
Dravid has past experiences with RR. He was their captain in IPL during 2012 and 2013, as well as serving as team director and mentor in 2014 and 2015 respectively.
In 2016 he transferred to Delhi Daredevils (now known as Delhi Capitals) until heading up the National Cricket Academy based in Bangalore from 2019 onwards. In 2021, he became chief coach for India men’s cricket team ending a three year long period where they bagged their first ICC trophy in eleven years’ time.
The former India coach had previously captained and mentored the Rajasthan Royals in the IPL
RR may also have appointed Vikram Rathour, a former Indian batter, as Dravid’s assistant coach. Before he became the batting coach of India in 2019, former India selector Rathour was part of Dravid’s coaching staff at NCA.
It is known that while Dravid will be the head coach for Rajasthan Royals in IPL, Kumar Sangakkara who has been their cricket directory since 2021 will still stick with their franchise and oversee other leagues teams including Paarl Royal under SA20 and Barbados Royal under CPL.
Since its inception in 2008, RR has never won the IPL title; their next highest position was second place they achieved during 2022 season when they were behind Gujarat Titans. They did not qualify for playoffs in 2023, completing fifth in the league after a wonderful start to the season only to do so again during 2024 before losing out at Qualifier 2.
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