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Former Indian skipper and head coach Rahul Dravid is all set to return to Rajasthan Royals as the head coach of the franchise ahead of the 2025 Indian Premier League (IPL) season, reported ESPNCricinfo on Wednesday.
Dravid recently ended his tenure with Team India on a high, securing the ICC T20 World Cup 2024 trophy after beating South Africa in the final by seven runs back in June. As per ESPNCricinfo, Dravid has struck a deal with the franchise he was associated with both as a player and a team director. From 2011-13 seasons, Dravid played 46 matches for the franchise, scoring 1,276 runs at an average of 29.67, with seven fifties. His best score was 66. Dravid also has a long-term, close relationship with franchise skipper Sanju Samson, who rose through the ranks in under-19 cricket under Dravid's watch and also played under in the franchise. Dravid was captain of RR in the IPL 2012 and 2013 and served as their team director from 2014-2015. Following that, in 2016, Dravid moved to Delhi Capitals (DC) untill his move to the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in 2019. In 2021, India appointed Dravid as their all-format head coach and ended his tenure with an ICC title in his cabinet. RR is also likely to rope in India's former batting coach Vikram Rathour, who worked closely with Dravid during his Indian coach stint, as one of the assistant coaches. Vikram was also a part of Dravid's coaching staff at the NCA back in 2019. It is understood that while Dravid will take over Kumar Sangakkara's spot with RR, who has been with the team as director of cricket since 2021, the Sri Lankan great will continue to work with the franchise in some capacity and will be also looking at the sister teams in SA20 (Paarl Royals) and Caribbean Premier League (Barbados Royals). Rajasthan has not secured an IPL title since their triumph in the inaugural edition back in 2008. Their next best finish was back in 2022 when they were runners-up to Gujarat Titans. After failing to qualify for the playoffs last year with a fifth-place finish, RR reached the last four in 2024 but were knocked out in Qualifier Two after a loss to Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH). In his IPL career, Dravid played 82 matches from 2008-13 for Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB), scoring 2,174 runs at an average of 28.23, with 11 half-centuries. However, he could never lay his hands on a trophy. (ANI)
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