Former Indian captain, Rahul Dravid has been named as the new mentor of Indian Premier League (IPL) outfit Delhi Daredevils. Dravid was the mentor of the suspended franchise, Rajasthan Royals. Paddy Upton will be the head coach of the Delhi franchise and will work closely with Dravid.
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Dravid was in charge of the India Under-19 team during the ICC Under-19 World Cup that finished runners-up last month. He guided the Indian colts to the final of the tournament, where they lost to the West Indies Under-19s.
The 43-year-old's experience in the IPL is undoubtedly going to help the Daredevils, who have been struggling in the last few seasons. Dravid played for the Royal Challengers Bangalore and Rajasthan Royals sides in the IPL and following his retirement from the game he took over the mentor role in the Rajasthan Royals setup. Dravid was the team director-cum-mentor for the Royals for the 2014 and 2015 editions of the IPL.
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In the last three seasons, the Daredevils have been performing terribly as they finished 7th, 8th and 9th in 2015, 2014 and 2013 editions of the IPL respectively. They will be hoping that Dravid can come and help bring about a change in the fortunes of the team.
Paddy Upton had worked alongside Dravid in the Rajasthan Royals administration and both of them will unite again in order to help the Daredevils’ quest for the IPL title.
Dravid and Upton will be joined by Zubin Bharucha, who was in the setup of the Royals administration, as the technical director. Other roles that are appointed in the administration include former Indian batsmen Sridharan Sriram and Praveen Amre as batting coaches. Former Indian fast bowler, TA Sekhar has been appointed as the bowling consultant.
“Enjoyed my time at Rajasthan Royals. I've had fond memories there and I'm keen on making a few more here at Delhi.
“DD have three brilliant wicketkeeper-batsmen in De Kock, Sanju Samson and Rishabh Pant. Two of them may play as specialist batsmen. I don't like to address players as 'icon'. Irrespective of who you are, you've got to perform.
“Don't think the price for which a player has been bought during the auction, is a criteria of his talent. I would aspire young cricketers to grow and play all three formats of cricket,” Dravid said.
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