Vikram Rathour appointed as batting coach for Rajasthan Royals in IPL 2025, reunites with Rahul Dravid

Former Indian opener and batting coach Vikram Rathour has reunited with Rahul Dravid as part of the coaching staff for Rajasthan Royals in the upcoming IPL 2025 season.

Rajasthan Royals confirmed the addition of Rathour to their staff on Friday, having already announced the arrival of Rahul Dravid following his stint as head coach of the Indian men’s team earlier this month.

“Having worked closely with Vikram for many years, I can confidently say that his technical expertise, calm demeanour, and deep understanding of Indian conditions make him a perfect fit for the Royals,” said Dravid in a press release on the RR website.

“His ability to nurture young talent and elevate players' potential will be invaluable as we aim to further strengthen our squad and continue building a world-class team here at Rajasthan Royals.”

Rathour will join Dravid with big questions regarding retentions ahead of the 2025 season, with several top quality players such as Jos Buttler, Sanju Samson, Riyan Parag, Dhruv Jurel, and Shimron Hetmyer having been at their disposal in recent years.

Rathour had been the batting coach for the Indian outfit for three years as part of Dravid’s staff, but saw his contract come to a close following the team’s T20 World Cup success in the West Indies earlier this year.

The former opener from Punjab has been part of the Indian setup since 2019 under Ravi Shastri, but has a long-term relationship with Dravid from the latter’s days as director of the NCA. He has served as coach in the IPL in the past as a coach in the Punjab Kings setup.

Rathour, who represented India in six Test matches and seven ODIs and was a fine domestic batter, had beaten out names such as Pravin Amre and current Afghanistan coach Jonathan Trott to the role in 2019. He oversaw India’s successes in reaching two World Test Championships finals in 2021 and 2023, as well as making the final of the home World Cup in 2023.

Rathour had earlier been announced as a short-term coach for the New Zealand Test team for their one-off contest against Afghanistan in Greater Noida, but that match was completely rained out. He was involved with the Kiwis on a consultancy basis for their tour of Asia this winter.

Dravid and Rathour were replaced in the India coaching staff by Gautam Gambhir and Abhishek Nayar respectively, who are currently involved in their first Test series with India in the ongoing Tests against Bangladesh.