File photo of Rahul Dravid© AFP
Rahul Dravid ended his tenure as the Indian cricket team head coach on the best note possible as the Rohit Sharma-led side clinched the T20 World Cup 2024 title. Dravid played a key role in shaping the team and it was also the perfect way to remedy the heartbreak caused by the loss in the 2023 ODI World Cup final against Australia. Since the end of his tenure, Dravid was linked with various Indian Premier League (IPL) teams - possibly as a head coach or mentor. However, the suspense finally came to an end as he was announced as the head coach of Rajasthan Royals - a team that he was a part of between 2011 and 2015 - both as the captain of the side and later as a mentor.
According to a report by Cricbuzz, Dravid had his heart set on returning to Rajasthan Royals despite receiving big offers from other franchises. The report further claimed that the Dravid "turned down offers from high-profile franchises, even those virtually willing to hand him blank cheques".
The report stated that the reason behind Dravid's decision to pick Rajasthan Royals actually goes back all the way to 2011. He was one of the marquee players with a base price of USD 400,000 and it was expected that he will go back to play for Royal Challenges Bengaluru where he spent three years.
However, RCB did not bid for him and just when it seemed like the star India batter will go unsold in the auction, Rajasthan Royals made a very late bid to acquire his services for USD 500,000.
That marked the begin of a solid relationship that saw Dravid captain the side in the next three editions of the competition before serving as the team mentor between 2014 and 2015.