(Image source from: Jagran.com)

Famous Indian cricketer, ex-captain and former head coach Rahul Dravid ended his time with the Rajasthan Royals as head coach on Saturday, August 30. Dravid began his role as RR’s head coach after his contract with the Indian men’s cricket team expired last year. However, in his first season as head coach, Dravid did not achieve good results, and the Royals ended up in ninth place in the IPL 2025 rankings after winning only four of their 14 games. In response to the news of Dravid leaving the Royals, former South African wicketkeeper and captain AB de Villiers made a shocking statement on Sunday. De Villiers, who played for Delhi Capitals and Royal Challengers Bengaluru, claimed that Dravid was somewhat ‘forced out’ by the Rajasthan Royals after he declined a ‘wider role’ that the team offered him.

“It seems to me like it was a decision made by the owner or management. They gave him a chance to take on a bigger role in the team. He decided against it. Perhaps he was unhappy because he really wanted to stay involved. He preferred to be on the sidelines. It could have been his choice. I’m not sure. We’ll probably learn more about it when he speaks on the subject later. But clearly, Rahul has left a significant legacy, and there are big shoes to fill,” De Villiers mentioned on his social media platform.

“Sometimes you notice this in the Premier League as well, where managers and coaches are often under a lot of pressure to succeed and win trophies. When they fail to do so, they start hearing from the owners and those who make decisions for the teams. So, we don’t fully know what happened. It seems like he was pushed out because he turned down that alternate role, which isn’t ideal. But perhaps Rajasthan has some new plans for the next season. They might want to change things up a bit and move ahead with that,” De Villiers pointed out. He, like many other experts in the sport, believes that the Royals did not perform well in the 2025 auction, letting go of some outstanding players such as Jos Buttler.

“I don’t think they had the best auction last time, as they released some amazing players, including Jos Buttler, which I saw as a mistake. Sometimes these moves can be beneficial, but not too aggressively. You can let go of one or two players, but they let a large part of their team go at once. I think this will lead to a slow decline.”