Former South African captain AB de Villiers made an explosive claim about former Team India and Rajasthan Royals head coach Rahul Dravid parting ways with the franchise. Dravid stepped down from the position of the head coach on Saturday, August 30.
Reacting to the news of Dravid’s exit from the Royals camp, former on Sunday. De Villiers, in his podcast, said that Dravid was sort of ‘kicked out’ by the Rajasthan Royals after he refused to take the ‘broader role’ offered to him by the franchise.
Speaking on his channel AB de Villiers 360, the former RCB cricketer said, “It sort of sounds to me like it was an owner or management kind of call. They gave him an option to have a broader role in the team. He sort of turned that down. Maybe he was upset because he really wanted to be still involved. He wanted to be in the dugout. Maybe it was his call. I don’t know. We’ll. I’m pretty sure we’ll find out once we get him talking about it in the future. Maybe. But Rahul, obviously, is leaving big footsteps behind, big shoes to fill,".
AB de Villiers on Rahul Dravid's exit from Rajasthan Royals
Dravid was appointed as RR’s head coach after his contract as head coach of the Indian men’s cricket team ended last year. But in his first season as head coach, Dravid failed to produce results, and the Royals finished ninth in the IPL 2025 points table after managing to win only four out of 14 matches.
He added,“Sometimes you see it in the Premier League as well, the football league, where the managers and the coaches are always under huge pressure to perform and to bring trophies home. And once they don’t, they start hearing from the owners and whoever makes the decisions for the various leagues, sorry, franchises, so we don’t know the facts really."
"It sounds to me like the fact that he turned down that other role, sort of like 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 with that."
Rajasthan Royals statement on Dravid leaving the franchise
Dravid succeeded Kumar Sangakkara in the role, with the latter becoming the franchise's Director of Cricket. Having stepped down as Team India's coach a year earlier, Dravid had bagged a role as Royals' head coach.
"Rajasthan Royals today announced that head coach Rahul Dravid will conclude his tenure with the franchise ahead of IPL 2026. Rahul has been central to the Royals' journey for many years. His leadership has influenced a generation of players, instilled strong values within the squad and left an indelible mark on the culture of the franchise."
The Royals now face a huge dilemma, with Rahul Dravid gone and rumours emerging that Samson may be on his way out of the franchise all eyes will be on how the reshaped Rajasthan management approaches the mini auction, scheduled for November or December.
