Sangakkara to be back as Rajasthan Royals head coach. This after Rahul Dravid left after a poor 2025 season.
Sangakkara, RR’s Director of Cricket since 2021, will be in charge of the coaching staff, looking after strategy and player growth, says ESPNcricinfo. He has been the head coach since he joined RR in 2021. With him around, the Sanju Samson led team made the playoffs twice in four seasons. In 2022, RR made the final for the first time since 2008 but lost to Gujarat Titans.
The Royals’ performance changed a lot. They finished 5th in 2023 and then made the playoffs the next season but lost in Qualifier 2. This was while Dravid was the head coach, a role he took on after India’s 2024 T20 World Cup win. Dravid has been with RR since 2012-2013 when he was the captain and then mentor from 2014 to 2015.
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Even though Dravid had a multi-year deal, he left RR recently. In a statement in August, RR said after looking at the franchise’s structure after the 2025 season (only 4 wins in 14 matches), Dravid was offered a broader role but chose not to take it.
Sangakkara will have Vikram Rathour as assistant coach and Shane Bond as bowling coach. One of his first jobs will be to sort out the captaincy as Sanju Samson wants to leave the team.
Samson told the franchise he wants to be released before the 2026 IPL auction. He told RR management his decision right after IPL 2025, says ESPNcricinfo. The 30-year-old played for RR from 2013 to 2015 and then came back in 2018 after a few seasons with Delhi Daredevils. He became captain in 2021 and led the team to the IPL final in 2022, their first since 2008.
The team released two top players, Jos Buttler and Yuzvendra Chahal, before the 2025 mega auction even though they won the Orange and Purple Caps in 2022. Samson was one of the six players the Royals retained before the last mega auction, costing them 18 crore.
