Rajasthan Royals confirmed the appointment of Rahul Dravid as head coach of their franchise for the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025. In a statement, Dravid will take over as the head coach of the franchise with immediate effect and will be involved in the planning for the 2025 season, including the upcoming mega auction.

Dravid, who oversaw India's T20 World Cup triumph in July, will return to the franchise, for the first time since 2015. Dravid led the Royals in the IPL in 2012 and 2013 and served as their mentor and Director of Cricket in 2014 and 2015 before moving to Delhi Capitals. Dravid spent four more seasons in the IPL as head coach before taking up the role of India U19 coach in 2019.

The Rajasthan role will be Dravid's first professional assignment since his three-year tenure as the head coach of the senior national men's team ended in July.

"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," Dravid said in a statement.

"A lot of hard work and deliberation 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," he added. 

Source: India Today