“Rahul Dravid was kicked out of RR set-up” - Ex-South African cricketer makes a startling revelation on Dravid leaving RR as head coach

Former South African middle-order dashing batter AB de Villiers has stated that Rahul Dravid was kicked out of the Rajasthan Royals’ set-up after not accepting the broader role in the franchise for the forthcoming season.

Speaking on his YouTube channel, AB also asserted that coaches and managers will have huge pressure on them to produce good results and take their franchise towards the title victory, or else they will hear from the owners.

"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,” AB de Villiers said on his YouTube channel.

"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 has different ideas for the upcoming season. Maybe they want to shake things up a bit and move forward,” he added.

Moreover, the former South African cricketer also felt that the RR franchise didn’t have a good mega auction last year as they let off Jos Buttler, Trent Boult, Yuzvendra Chahal, and a few other important cricketers ahead of the auction.

"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," he concluded.

Notably, RR finished the IPL 2025 season at the ninth rank with four wins and 10 losses in 14 games, picking up only eight points at an NRR of -0.549.

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