Rahul Dravid rejected blank cheque offers from other franchises to join Rajasthan Royals - Reports

Rahul Dravid played for RR in the IPL from 2011 to 2013.

For the first time since 2019, former India captain Rahul Dravid will return to the Indian Premier League (IPL) as has been formally announced as the new head coach of Rajasthan Royals (RR).

“I am pleased to be returning to the franchise I have called ‘home’ for a number of years in the past,” Dravid said in a statement.

The 51-year-old recently guided Team India to the ICC T20 World Cup 2024 trophy, having last year coached the side to the finals of the World Test Championship and the ODI World Cup as well.

His success as India’s head coach raised his stocks as a coach and once his tenure with the national team ended, Dravid was reportedly approached by multiple IPL franchises. Some franchises were so desperate to have Dravid on board, that they reportedly offered him an astronomical amount of money but he rejected the offers.

Rahul Dravid picks loyalty over money

According to a report in Cricbuzz, there were IPL franchises who were “virtually willing to hand him blank cheques” to join them ahead of the IPL 2025 auction. However, Dravid remained steadfast in returning to RR, with whom he had an emotional association as well.

RR were the team that bid for Dravid in the 2011 IPL mega auction, even when his previous franchise, Royal Challengers Bangalore (Bengaluru now), didn’t raise the paddle for him.

Dravid played three seasons at RR and captained in two of them after Shane Warne’s retirement. He retired from IPL after the 2013 season and spent two seasons as RR’s mentor. His association with RR was halted when the franchise was banned for a couple of seasons and he moved to Delhi Daredevils (now Delhi Capitals) before taking up the role of the head of the National Cricket Academy in 2019.

He got into coaching the under-19 and India A teams before getting the job of the Indian men’s team’s head coach.

Now that his tenure with the Men In Blue ended, Dravid immediately returned to RR. Dravid also has a close relationship with Sanju Samson, the RR captain.

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