Vikram Rathour, who was India’s batting coach under Ravi Shastri and then worked with Rahul Dravid as head coach, will rejoin Dravid’s support team in a similar position at the Rajasthan Royals in the Indian Premier League. Earlier this month, the Royals announced Dravid as their new coach. Vikram Rathour’s five-year contract with the national squad expired in June, just after India won the T20 World Cup in the Caribbean.
Vikram Rathour Joins Royals After 5 Years
Vikram Rathour joins the IPL for the second time, having previously coached the Punjab Kings. He has previously served as the cricket director for Himachal Pradesh. Dravid highlighted his delight at returning to the Royals, describing it as the “perfect place” for his next challenge after the World Cup. Vikram Rathour, in his new post, stated, “The opportunity to work again with Rahul, and now with a talented group of young cricketers, is hugely exciting.”
After the World Cup, Dravid said he was thrilled to be back with the Royals, describing it as the “perfect place” to take on his next task. Whereas, commenting on his new role, the 55-year-old said, “The opportunity to work again with Rahul, and now with a talented group of young cricketers, is hugely exciting. I look forward to contributing to the team’s vision and working toward our goal of developing top-class players for the Royals and India which can help in winning championships.”
Vikram Rathour was briefly hired earlier this month by the New Zealand side as a batting consultant to help them prepare for the six Test matches they would be playing in the subcontinent. Before Rathour joined the Indian squad in 2019 as their batting coach, he was a national selector for four years. In addition, he worked as an IPL coach for Punjab Kings and as a domestic cricket coach for Himachal Pradesh. Rathour competed for India in six One-Day Internationals (ODIs) and seven Test matches during 1996 and 1997.
Rathour has amassed 11,473 first-class runs in his domestic batting career. During his time, several players gained notoriety in the national team across several forms, including Shubman Gill, Rishabh Pant, Shreyas Iyer, Yashasvi Jaiswal, and KL Rahul. Vikram Rathour was part of the New Zealand support team during the recent one-off Test match in Greater Noida versus Afghanistan. Because of the outfield’s poor conditions and continuous rain, the match concluded without a ball being bowled.
Rahul Dravid to Bring Former Coach
The Royals’ Director of Cricket, Kumar Sangakkara, will continue to collaborate with Dravid to develop the team’s game plan. Besides Vikram Rathour, Sangakkara lauded Dravid’s credentials. They said, “His ability to nurture talent and get them to consistently perform at the highest level will be a huge asset as we aim to challenge for the title.” The former India bowler and 2011 World Cup champion Munaf Patel is another important person expected to embark on an IPL coaching role. Patel’s involvement suggests even further that several well-known coaches will be lending their experience to teams in the IPL 2025 season, hence enhancing the level of competition and tactics used by teams.
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