On Friday (September 6), Rajasthan Royals (RR) officially announced Rahul Dravid as the new head coach of the team. Dravid has signed a multi-year contract. 

The 51-year-old former Indian captain and legendary Indian batter, Rahul Dravid, recently ended his contract as the head coach with the Indian men’s national cricket team after winning the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024 trophy. 

Rahul Dravid, India's legendary World Cup-winning coach, is set for a sensational return to Rajasthan Royals! 🇮🇳🤝

The cricket icon was captured receiving his Pink jersey from the Royals Sports Group CEO Jake Lush McCrum. It is believed that the RR Admin was present too,… pic.twitter.com/C6Q8KRDFgW

— Rajasthan Royals (@rajasthanroyals) September 6, 2024

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Rahul Dravid-led Rajasthan Royals performed strongly in 2013

Between 2011 and 2015, Dravid served for the Rajasthan Royals as a captain and as a coach. While Dravid led the Rajasthan Royals between 2012 and 2013, his team reached the Qualifier 2 at the IPL 2013. 

Meanwhile, at the Champions League T20 2013, the Dravid-led Rajasthan Royals reached the final by winning all matches. However, in the final, they lost against Mumbai Indians and finished as the runners-up. 

Dravid led Rajasthan Royals in 40 T20 matches, where his team won 23 games and lost 17 fixtures. 

Dravid scored 1324 runs in 52 matches for Rajasthan Royals. The right-handed batter’s average and strike rate for the team were 27.02 and 108.88, respectively. He scored seven half-centuries for the franchise, including his highest score of 66 runs. During his retirement from the game, he was the third-most run-scorer for the franchise. 

Rahul Dravid was in the RR coaching team in 2014 and 2015

In the IPL 2014 and 2015, Dravid joined the coaching team of the franchise, where he worked as a mentor. 

Dravid and Royals' Director of Cricket Kumar Sangakkara will now work together to implement the overall cricketing strategy for the team. 

Kumar Sangakkara 🤝 Rahul Dravid 🔥💗

This is going to be exciting! 😍 pic.twitter.com/eAN4cvZsG1

— Rajasthan Royals (@rajasthanroyals) September 6, 2024

I am pleased to be returning to the franchise: Rahul Dravid

Dravid is ready for the new challenge. He called the Rajasthan Royals his ‘home’ and is pleased to be returning to the franchise. 

Dravid said, "I am pleased to be returning to the franchise I have called 'home' for a number of years in the past. After the World Cup, I feel it's the ideal time for me to take on another challenge, and the Royals is the perfect place to do that.” 

The former RR captain added, “A lot of hard work and deliberations from Manoj, Jake, Kumar, and the team has gone into the progression that the franchise has made over the past few years. It's an exciting opportunity for us to take this team to the next level given the kind of talent and resources we have at our disposal and I'm looking forward to getting started."

Rajasthan Royals will now focus on rebuilding a solid team for the IPL 2025. In two out of the last three IPL seasons, RR reached the playoffs, while they finished as the runners-up in the IPL 2022 after losing the final against the IPL debutants Gujarat Titans.