Rahul Dravid was appointed as the Head Coach of the Rajasthan Royals. (Image: Instagram)
Rahul Dravid’s homecoming to the Rajasthan Royals could come as a massive surprise considering that he had offers from other franchises following his T20 World Cup win as Head Coach of the Indian team.
After seven long years, Rahul Dravid will finally be back in the Indian Premier League (IPL) with ‘the Wall’ reuniting with his former franchise, the Rajasthan Royals. However, this time, he had offers from various other franchises who wanted the services of the T20 World Cup-winning coach.
During Dravid’s time as Team India’s Head Coach, the world saw the Indian Cricket Team dominating on all fronts. The ‘Men in Blue’ were able to make it to the final of the World Test Championship, the 2023 ODI World Cup final at home and finally take the T20 World Cup 2024 title.
It comes as no surprise that franchises would be queuing up to bring in Dravid to their side. But still, he chose to go back to the Royals who are not among the most successful franchises in the IPL.
A report on Cricbuzz suggested that Dravid had turned down offers from other franchises to reunite with his former team.
The Rajasthan Royals will certainly feel lucky that Dravid opted to go with loyalty. With him and Sangakkara on board, the Royals certainly have some fine cricketing brains within the management.
The Royals, on the other hand, have been historical underperformers. Despite their recent resurgence as a top-four team, they have faced difficulties in the big games, a scenario that is synonymous with the Indian team.
Dravid might not have the services of Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli or Jasprit Bumrah, but the squad is certainly decent and can compete on all fronts. The experience of R Ashwin and Yuzi Chahal, coupled with an explosive batting unit in Jos Buttler, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Sanju Samson and Riyan Parag. There is a lot of positives to look at.
But with the upcoming IPL mega-auction coming up, the side could be forced to let go of some of the big names and hope that some of the new talents that come in could get the job done for the side.
Nevertheless, one thing is for certain, the Royals will certainly be a force to be reckoned with Dravid at the helm, but their approach for the new season will be one to ponder on as we come closer to the auctions.