Rahul Dravid returns to Rajasthan Royals as head coach

The World Cup-winning coach Rahul Dravid is expected to join the Royals franchise ahead of the IPL 2025 as the head coach.

After paving the road to the ultimate triumph of winning a World Cup for team India, former India coach Rahul Dravid is expected to make a homecoming to Rajasthan Royals (RR) ahead of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025. According to sources, the talks are settled, and he will step into the position soon. Meanwhile, Kumar Sangakkara will remain the director for their teams in other leagues, including Paarl Royals in SA20 and Barbados Royals in the Caribbean Premier League (CPL). 

As the new coach, Dravid would like to reiterate the result he reaped for Team India in June. But what will be the challenges he might face as the head coach of the Royals, and what will the management and fans expect from ‘the Wall’? 

Rahul Dravid: a Royal at heart 

Before jumping into the role he will play as the coach, let us have a look at his association with the franchise in the past.  

Rahul Dravid shares a deep history with the Royals franchise and even their current skipper, Sanju Samson. He served the Royals as the captain in IPL 2012 & 2013, whereas he mentored the team in the 2014 & 2015 editions before joining the Delhi Daredevils (now Delhi Capitals) in 2016.

During the time he spent in the RR camp, the team had a mixed set of results. RR stood in seventh and third positions under his captaincy in 2012 and 2013, respectively. Whereas, under his mentorship, the team ranked fifth and fourth in 2014 and 2015, respectively. The Royals haven’t been able to pull off the trophy besides their splendid win in the first edition of the IPL under Shane Warne. The big question will be if Dravid can achieve the steep climb of winning the IPL trophy for RR, which no other coach and captain has achieved in the last 16 years. The hopes of the RR fans will certainly be on the two-time World Cup-winning coach. That’s right, before winning the T20 World Cup in June, Dravid was the India coach during the U19 World Cup when the ‘boys in blue’ lifted the trophy in 2016.

Read More: Zaheer Khan brings wealth of experience as LSG Mentor

Rahul Dravid’s accomplishments as a coach:

There is no doubt that Dravid has grown immensely since the last time he was associated with RR. Moreover, he has proved himself to be an excellent coach. Now, what is expected from him in the RR camp?

Rebuild team’s core at auction

In 2025, the teams will be getting reshuffled in the auction, with a few players being retained. RR have had strong bench strength till last year. Unfortunately, they didn’t utilise it enough to get the trophy. Dravid would be supposed to rebuild a similar team, if not better, and gel the players as a team.

Develop partnership with Sanju Samson

Dravid and Samson have played together, and they have worked as a player-coach pair as well. To their benefit, both of them have come a long way since then. This time, the management will be expecting them to come together to repeat what RR did in the first edition of this mega-tournament. 

Break the chokers’ cycle 

The Royals have had everything in the past few years. A great director in Sangakkara, an aggressive captain in Samson, a stupendous batting lineup, a ferocious pace attack, and the mastermind of Ravichandran Ashwin and Yuzvendra Chahal as spinners. And yet, they couldn’t get past the final hurdle. Dravid’s most important task would be to see this problem through and create a champion team. 

The ‘Wall of India’ has done it earlier and can do it again. The management and the fans would be expecting nothing less from the legend.

Read More: Rahul Dravid: From heartbreak in CWC 2007 to rising like a phoenix in T20 WC 2024