Former Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) batter AB de Villiers wondered if legendary batter turned coach Rahul Dravid was upset with the Rajasthan Royals (RR), leading to his departure from the franchise as well. However, Dravid was appointed RR head coach ahead of the 2025 IPL season in a multi-year contract. But the franchise announced his departure after just one season.
Talking about Rahul Dravid’s departure from RR, AB de Villiers said on his YouTube channel, “It sounds to me like it was an owner’s call, a management kind of call. They gave him an option to have a broader role in the team, which he turned down. Maybe he was upset and he wanted to still be involved in that dugout. Maybe it was his call. But Rahul leaves big footsteps behind and big shoes to fill. He is a larger than life kind of character and knows a lot about the game. I personally have spoken to youngsters before, where many speak about him having a huge influence in their careers.”
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“The coaches and managers in leagues are under pressure to produce results and win trophies. Once they don’t, they start hearing from owners. We don’t know the facts but given he turned down the other role, maybe he was kicked out, which is never ideal. But maybe Rajasthan have different ideas for the upcoming season. Maybe they want to shake things up a bit and move forward,” he again added.
AB de Villiers also questioned RR’s moves before and during the IPL 2025 auction as they had one of the most disappointing seasons this year as well. They retained six players: Sanju Samson, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Dhruv Jurel, Riyan Parag, Sandeep Sharma, and Shimron Hetmyer, ahead of the 2025 auction, whereasthey released several star players like Jos Buttler and Yuzvendra Chahal, among others.
“I didn’t think they had the greatest auction last time. They let go of some incredible players like Jos Buttler and a few others, which I thought was a mistake. Sometimes it’s a good thing but not overly aggressive. You can let one or two go but they let a huge bulk of their team go at once. It should be more gradual,” AB de Villiers concluded.
