COLOMBO: Team India‘s former head coach Rahul Dravid is likely to return to the Rajasthan Royals as the head coach, TOI has learnt.
“Talks are going on between RR and Dravid, and an announcement in this regard is round the corner,” a reliable source told TOI.
The 51-year-old has had a long relationship with RR, having been their captain who led them to the Champions League T20 final and IPL playoffs in 2013, before taking on the mentor’s role in 2014 and 2015, when they finished third in the IPL.
From 2015, Dravid was associated with the BCCI as the head coach of the India U-19 and India ‘A’ teams, then the chairman at NCA, before finally taking over the head coach of the senior team from October 2021.
It’s not clear if the franchise would retain Kumar Sangakkara, who has been the Royals’ director of cricket since 2021 or relieve him after Dravid comes on board.
“Talks are going on between RR and Dravid, and an announcement in this regard is round the corner,” a reliable source told TOI.
The 51-year-old has had a long relationship with RR, having been their captain who led them to the Champions League T20 final and IPL playoffs in 2013, before taking on the mentor’s role in 2014 and 2015, when they finished third in the IPL.
From 2015, Dravid was associated with the BCCI as the head coach of the India U-19 and India ‘A’ teams, then the chairman at NCA, before finally taking over the head coach of the senior team from October 2021.
It’s not clear if the franchise would retain Kumar Sangakkara, who has been the Royals’ director of cricket since 2021 or relieve him after Dravid comes on board.
Bharucha oversees SL camp
Meanwhile, Sri Lanka are taking the help of an Indian hand to prepare for the white-ball series against India.
Zubin Bharucha, the high-performance director of the Royals, is currently taking a week-long ‘batting master class’ for Sri Lanka’s players in Colombo which ends on Tuesday. Bharucha is known for his rigorous training methods for the batsmen, which have played a key role in the development Yashasvi Jaiswal and Dhruv Jurel.
“I’m assisting Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) coaches in how they are setting up practice -from the academy to the international players,” Bharucha told TOI on Monday.
According to a source, it was Sangakkara who “recommended Bharucha name for the special training session”.
