 "'Rahul Dravid sort of kicked out of Rajasthan Royals like managers in Premier League': AB de Villiers")
Cricket legend AB de Villiers believes Rahul Dravid was “kicked out” from the Rajasthan Royals (RR) like football managers are sacked by teams in the Premier League. The South African great doesn’t think RR and Dravid parted ways mutually, which the official statement from the Indian Premier League (IPL) side suggested.
Dravid-coached RR finished ninth in the IPL 2025 table, leading to his removal from the coaching position. RR, in their statement, said that the former Indian cricketer was offered a “broader position at the franchise,” but he refused to take it.
Dravid kicked out of RR by owners?
De Villiers feels RR’s statement was just wordplay and that Dravid was sacked by the owners of the RR franchise, as they were not happy with the results.
“Sometimes, as you’ve seen in football leagues like the Premier League, coaches and managers are always under pressure to perform and bring trophies home. Once they don’t, they start hearing from the owners who make the decisions for the teams. We don’t know the facts really. It sounds to me that the fact he turned down the other role meant he was sort of kicked out, which is never ideal,” De Villiers said on his YouTube show.
“But maybe Rajasthan have different ideas for the upcoming season. Maybe they want to shake things up a bit and move forward,” he added.
De Villiers further added, “I don’t know what exactly happened there. It sorts of sounds to me like an owner’s call. They gave him an option to have a broader role in the team, which he turned down. Maybe he was upset and still wanted to be in that dugout. Maybe it was his call. We don’t know, but we’ll find out in the future.”
An explosive report has claimed that things were not hunky-dory between Dravid and RR management. Dravid reportedly wasn't keen on grooming Riyan Parag as the future captain , and the possible exit of captain Sanju Samson may have also played a role.
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