Rahul Dravid has been appointed the new skipper of Rajasthan Royals. Dravid succeeds Shane Warne, who captained Royals in the initial four IPLs and led them to the championship in the league’s first season. Dravid has been purchased by Royals in the 2011 IPL public auction for $500,000, after playing for Royal Challengers Bangalore for that first three years. One of the reasons Dravid was signed by Royals was his tested leadership abilities.
“I am honored to lead the Rajasthan Royals and look forward to
the valuable inputs from my team-mates who are already leading their own national sides and clubs,” Dravid stated. “My goal will be to get the best out of an extremely good team and invoke the same team spirit which won the franchise the very first IPL, and has been a trademark on the Rajasthan Royals since that time.”
Warne announced the retirement from the IPL following the 2011 tournament and Royals had a number of gamers with leadership experience from which to choose his successor. The team consists of present New Zealand skipper, Ross Taylor, and former overseas Twenty20 captains Johan Both and also Paul Collingwood. Shane Watson, the Australia all rounder was an additional prospect but in the end Dravid’s qualifications were too robust too ignore.
“No one in the team possesses Rahul Dravid’s prominence,” Raghu Iyer, Rajasthan Royals spokesperson told. “He is likely one of the world’s best ever. Very tough not to appoint him as skipper.”
Warne accented Dravid’s leadership ability. “He is not only one of the world’s greatest batsmen, but a leader par excellence. The Royals team is a group of incredibly enthusiastic and talented players who understand their roles perfectly and I am certain that they will thrive under Dravid’s impressive leadership.”
In his debut season with Royals earlier this year, Dravid have scored 343 runs in 12 matches at an average of 31.18 and a strike-rate of 109.23. The team accomplished sixth in the points table, and were in the hunt for a play-off spot for most of the season before fading at the end.
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