The Rajasthan Royals (RR) welcomed the former T20 World Cup-winning head coach, Rahul Dravid, for the new 2025 season of the Indian Premier League. The veteran returned to his franchise after a wait of nearly a decade, as he now looks to help the side win their second title in the league for the first time since 2008.
RR decided to retain their core players before the mega auction of the tournament. The swashbuckling opening batter, Yashasvi Jaiswal, their captain for the last few seasons, the wicket-keeper batter, Sanju Samson, the youngster Dhruv Jurel, the uncapped pacer Sandeep Sharma and the middle order batter Riyan Parag stayed with the franchise. The only overseas member of the retention was Shimron Hetmyer.
Their new head coach, Rahul Dravid, has opened up on their new interesting signing of the 13-year-old opening batter from Bihar, Vaibhav Suryavanshi, for INR 1.10 crore on the second day of the mega auction. It wasn’t the first time they invested in the young talents of the game, as they have helped the youth and groomed them under their wings.
Dravid elaborated that the eighth-standard student from Samastipur came to the trails of the Royals, where the franchise decided to go after him in the auction, and the former batter of India felt that the Royals would provide him with a great environment for the future.
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“I think he’s (Suryavanshi) got some really good skills, so we thought it might be a good environment for him to grow in. Vaibhav just came to our trials, and we were really happy with what he saw.” Rahul Dravid expressed in an IPL video.
Rahul Dravid satisfied with their picks in the IPL 2025 mega auction
Vaibhav caught the attention of the franchise members with his century during the Youth Test for the Under-19 Indian side against the U-19 Australian team at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai, making 104 runs in just 62 deliveries. He also went on to make his debut in the shortest format for Bihar in the ongoing Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy (SMAT) 2024.
Rajasthan also bagged the services of two Sri Lankan spinners in the form of Wanindu Hasaranga and Mahesh Theekshana, the left-arm pacer from Afghanistan, Fazalhaq Farooqi, the England pacer Jofra Archer. Nitish Rana and Tushar Deshpande also joined them on the side.
“We came into this auction having retained a lot of our core Indian batsmen. A big target for us in this auction was bowlers, showing that we did a really strong bowling attack. I think we achieved that.” Rahul Dravid shed light.
Kumar Kartikeya and Yudhvir Charak are two more all-rounders who will take part in the event at some point in time.
“We got some really good bowlers, a couple of really good spinners, backed it up with a really good Indian spinner in Karthikeya. So, having someone like Jofra and his skills and unique skills, backed that up with a couple of left-handers.” The Karnataka-born addressed.
Akash Madhwal is another superb signing for them at the price of INR 1.20 crore, having fought with the Punjab Kings while they gave away INR 6.50 for Deshpande.
“We like the change in angle, like the swing that both Farooqui and Maphaka bring for us. We enjoyed the whole process, not only just the pure auction.” Rahul Dravid concluded.
The mega auction has been a decent one for the inaugural champions, and they will look to use their cards in the best way for the new season.