Rahul Dravid’s exit from Rajasthan Royals (RR) has come as a bolt out of the blue for the cricket fraternity as the Indian cricket legend’s stint with the 2008 Champions ended after just one season of his return to the franchise as their head coach.
While rumours of Sanju Samson’s desire to move out and find a new team have been doing out of the rounds, there were no such reports over Dravid’s position being at risk. The Royals revealed in their statement that they offered the former India head coach a ‘broader role’ at the franchise, which hinted that it was the management’s decision to move past Dravid from the top job.
RR Camp Divided Over Captaincy
A report from Cricbuzz has claimed that Dravid has been in discussion with the Royals owner Manoj Badale. The published information states that Badale was keen to keep the former RR captain on board in the support, and hence, to offer of another role was made, which Dravid rejected.
Samson’s desire to leave RR has emerged as a key reason behind Dravid’s exit as a long-term captain, as displeasure not reflecting well on the head coach. However, the report states that Dravid is not entirely responsible for Samson’s displeasure.
Infact, the same report claims that the relationship between Dravid and Samson was not fully broken, with the duo only have normal disagreements which are common between captain and coach.
However, it has been revealed that the RR camp was decided on the captaincy front with three different schools of thought. It is reported that one camp wanted to keep Samson as captain, another wanted Riyan Parag to take over, while the other was in favour of making Yasashvi Jaiswal as captain.
What Next?
The same report claims that Dravid has generated interest from other franchises, but he is not as keenly sought after as he was last year after his Team India tenure.
As far as RR is concerned, a decision is set to be taken at a meeting of the entire staff in London called by Badale. Team director Kumar Sangakkara is the favourite to return to the role.