Rajasthan Royals today named Rahul Dravid the new captain of the IPL franchise formerly led by Shane Warne. Rahul Dravid, who represented the franchise in the 2011 edition, in all aspects of the teams cricketing strategy and will guide its youth and talent development initiatives. The Indian Premier Leagues fifth edition is scheduled to begin in Chennai on April 4, 2012.
The Rajasthan Royals captain was recently conferred the Polly Umrigar Award for India's Best Cricketer of 2010-11 by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). The 38-year-old former Indian captain had a great year in which he scored 1,258 runs in 15 Tests, which included six centuries.
Speaking about his new role in the franchise, Rahul Dravid said, 'I am honoured to lead the Rajasthan Royals. I hope to live up to the confidence shown in me by the franchise and give our fans an exciting season of cricket. I look forward to the valuable inputs from my team-mates who are already leading their national sides and clubs. My aim will be to get the best out of a very talented squad and invoke the same team spirit that won the franchise the first IPL and has been a hallmark of the Rajasthan Royals ever since. I am confident that by doing so we will have a great chance of winning the tournament again.''
Raghu Iyer, CEO of Rajasthan Royals, said on the occasion, ''We are delighted to announce Dravid as Captain. He epitomises all the values of the Royals franchise with his true grit and never say die attitude. We hope all Royals fans will get behind Rahul and the team in the upcoming seasons.''
Shane Warne, former captain of Rajasthan Royals, said, ''I would like to congratulate Rahul Dravid on his appointment as the captain of the Royals. He is not only one of the world's best batsmen, but a leader par excellence. The Royals squad is a bunch of extremely energetic and talented players who know their roles perfectly well and I am sure they will thrive under Dravid's inspiring leadership. I will be keenly following the Royals and Dravid and would like to wish them the best!''
Rajasthan Royals, who lifted the IPL trophy in its inaugural season in 2008, are looking to repeat the winning performance under Dravid's astute leadership in next year's tournament. The legendary No. 3 batsman will also be a valuable asset in the Royals' initiatives involving young talent such as the Kanni Thahryamal Tournament that concluded at Jaipur's Sanskar School today.
The cricketing legend has been in excellent form and is now the highest run-getter in Tests in 2011; he recently became only the second batsman in the history of the game to have crossed 13,000 runs in that format. Since he joined Rajasthan Royals, Dravid has been the team's best batsman, notching 343 runs in 12 matches at a strike-rate of 109.24.
Source: iplt20.com (Media Announcements)
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