Former Rajasthan Royals (RR) captain and mentor Rahul Dravid is set to return to the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2008-winning franchise as head coach. Sports Tak has learned that the former India head coach has deal is likely to be finalised in a couple of days.
Before taking discussions further with Royals, Dravid was also approached by five-time IPL champions Mumbai Indians and defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR).
Dravid’s coaching career
The 51-year-old was earlier served as Delhi Daredevils' (now Delhi Capitals) mentor as well before he took charge of the junior Indian team and the National Cricket Academy (NCA), Bengaluru.
He helped Prithvi Shaw-led India win the Under-19 World Cup 2018. After India’s dismal show in T20 World Cup 2021, Dravid took over as head coach. While India were beaten in the final of ODI World Cup 2023 by Australia, they beat South Africa in T20 World Cup 2024 to end 11-year-old ICC Trophy drought.
Dravid's IPL career
Dravid has led the Royals in 40 games. He took over the captaincy in the 2012 edition. Under his leadership, Royals won 23 games. He is Royals' sixth-highest run-scorer. The top-order batter has 1,324 runs from 51 innings at an average of 27.02 including seven half-centuries.
He made his IPL debut for Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) and played his farewell game in the cash-rich league for Royals. In 89 games, he averages 28.23 with 2,174 runs including 11 half-centuries.
How RR fared in recent seasons
In the last three years, Royals have reached the playoffs. In IPL 2022, RR lost to Hardik Pandya-led Gujarat Titans (GT) in the final. In IPL 2023, they missed the playoffs spot by a whisker. In the previous season, they reached the playoffs again. They finished third after losing the Qualifier 2 to Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH).
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