Legendary cricketer Rahul Dravid has made his return to the IPL and has joined the Rajasthan Royals as their head coach. The 51-year-old cricketer stayed away from IPL for around 7 years to avoid the conflict of interest. The Indian legend has joined India U-19 and India A teams as their head coach and had to pick between IPL and Team India. Notably, Rahul Dravid decided to stay with the BCCI's teams. In 2019, Dravid became the NCA head, and two years later, the star cricketer was appointed Team India's head coach. The Men in Blue enjoyed success during Dravid's stint and reached the finals of the 2023 World Test Championship and 2023 ODI World Cup.

In the 2024 T20 World Cup, Rohit Sharma and his men ended their ICC title drought and became the World Champions after Team India outclassed Aiden Markram-led Proteas on June 29 at Barbados to win the showpiece event. The Indore-born cricketer's successful stint with Team India made him one of the most sought-after coaches in the IPL circuit.

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Some high-profile IPL franchises were willing to hand Rahul Dravid blank cheques to work with them: Reports

Meanwhile, Cricbuzz has reported that high-profile IPL franchises were willing to hand Rahul Dravid blank cheques to work with them, but he stayed loyal to the Rajasthan Royals. Notably, the franchise brought Dravid to the IPL 2011 mega-auction. After playing for them for three years, Dravid joined RR as their head coach and coached them in the IPL 2014 and 2014. The 51-year-old legend moved to the Delhi Capitals for IPL 2016 and 2017 after RR was banned for two years. However, Rahul Dravid decided to make his return to RR after being done with coaching in international cricket.

"Rahul is one of the greatest players to have played the game, but what he has achieved over the past decade as a coach is extraordinary. The characteristics that he possesses as a coach to nurture talent but also enable them to consistently perform at the highest level, will allow the Rajasthan Royals to further challenge for the title. I've already had some meaningful conversations with him about his vision for this team, and he is looking forward to delivering the results for the Royals," Kumar Sangakkara said in RR's release.

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