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New South Wales kept the pressure on Victoria at the top of the table as they wrapped up a 174-run victory inside three days

Andrew McGlashan05-Mar-2019Sean Abbott claimed 5 for 31 and Moises Henriques nipped out three top-six batsmen as New South Wales secured a convincing 174-run win at the Gabba by skittling Queensland for 89.Set 264 in conditions which had been challenging for batsmen throughout, Queensland never threatened to get close to the target after Abbott ripped out the top order with an impressive new-ball spell. With the light fading, New South Wales were told they could only use spin as the overs ticked down, but they were able to avoid having to return on the final day when Jason Sangha had Billy Stanlake caught at slip.Abbott had reduced the the Bulls to 3 for 14 inside six overs. Joe Burns shouldered arms to a delivery that ducked in and took off stump and then two ball later Marnus Labuschagne was given lbw to complete a pair. Charlie Hemphrey became the second batsman dismissed not offering a shot when his pad was clipped by Abbott.New South Wales’ charge was momentarily halted by Matt Renshaw and Sam Heazlett but Henriques’ introduction quickly put Queensland back in the mire when his second ball climbed and nipped away to take Renshaw’s edge. Heazlett was then caught in two minds whether to play or leave a short delivery, lobbing a simple catch to gully, and Nathan McSweeney was caught behind.It was now only a matter of whether the Blues could win in three days. Trent Copeland hastened the end by having Jimmy Peirson caught at third slip and then Abbott returned to complete his haul.New South Wales had fought hard through their second innings in conditions that continued to favour the quicks. Daniel Hughes and Henriques took their overnight stand to 119 with Henriques producing the most dominant batting of the match with his 78 off 116 balls.After resisting the pacemen, it was spin which broke through when Henrqiues edged Labuschagne to slip in his first over.Sangha edged a lifting delivery from Stanlake and Michael Neser ended Hughes’ gritty 218-ball stay when, after beating him repeatedly outside off, he had the batsman caught behind. Hughes had reached 40 off 83 balls on the second day, and his next 28 runs took 135 deliveries.Neser was impressive with old and new ball, later having Peter Nevill caught in the gully. However, Jack Edwards produced a valuable hand of 40 as the lower order pushed the lead over 200. It proved more than enough.

The Bangladesh batsman will also be fined about $25,000 and barred from playing domestic cricket for the next six months as punishment for assaulting a fan during a first-class match

Mohammad Isam01-Jan-2018Bangladesh batsman Sabbir Rahman has been stripped of his BCB central contract as punishment for assaulting a fan during a first-class match. Sabbir has also been fined Tk 20 lakh ($25,000 approx) and barred from playing domestic cricket for the next six months.Sabbir was the first cricketer in Bangladesh to be punished in such a way. He was in Grade B in the BCB’s list of contracted cricketers, earning $30,000 in 2017. By being fined $25,000, he breaks his own record, having been fined Tk 12 lakh ($16,000 approx) for a serious disciplinary breach during the 2016 BPL.

Proposal to penalise Tamim for outfield comments

There is a proposal to fine Tamim Iqbal Tk 5 lakh ($6,250 approx) for his outburst against the outfield at the Shere Bangla National Stadium during the BPL. BCB chief Nazmul Hassan said that Tamim could also be warned to exercise caution while speaking to the media in future. A decision on the matter is likely later in the month.

After Comilla Victorians and Rangpur Riders struggled to get past 100 in their game on December 2, Tamim had criticised the pitch and also made a mention of the outfield, which the ICC had given a “poor” rating in September.

BCB president Nazmul Hassan spelled out these punishments after the disciplinary committee’s hearing on Monday. Hassan said the committee’s recommendations to punish Sabbir were “final” – meaning that he approved of them – although the board directors will have to endorse them in a meeting later.The incident took place on December 21, the second day of Rajshahi Division’s National Cricket League game against Dhaka Metropolis. Apart from assaulting the fan, Sabbir also allegedly misbehaved with the match referee after being summoned for investigation.According to the committee’s vice-chairman Sheikh Sohel, Sabbir apologised for his actions during Monday’s hearing. Sohel said Sabbir’s history of disciplinary breaches were kept in mind while deciding the punishment.”We felt that he didn’t learn anything from his past two punishments,” Sohel said. “We have meted out a heavy punishment. He is out of the national contract, which is a huge blow. He is also fined Tk 20 lakh. But this is his last chance. If he has another brush with indiscipline, he will be permanently suspended.”

Tamim Iqbal produced a mature and restrained innings of 78 from 179 balls, as Bangladesh set the tempo once again against a curiously passive England attack

The Report by Andrew Miller21-Oct-2016Bangladesh 221 for 5 (Tamim 78, Mushfiqur 48) trail England 293 (Moeen 68, Bairstow 52, Mehedi 6-80) by 72 runs

Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsTamim Iqbal produced a mature and restrained innings of 78 from 179 balls, as Bangladesh set the tempo once again against a curiously passive England attack to reach the close of the second day at Chittagong in a hugely promising position.By the close, England’s lead had been whittled down to a meagre 72 runs with five wickets still in hand, thanks to a 58-run stand between Mushfiqur Rahim and Shakib Al Hasan, who continued Tamim’s business-like theme on a wicket that offered turn and bounce but perhaps less venom than might have been anticipated once the hardness of the new ball had been negotiated.The pair had taken their stand to the brink of stumps, when – with the shadows lengthening and England’s heads beginning to drop – Ben Stokes summoned up one last bout of vigour to lure Mushfiqur, on 48, into a fatal snick to the keeper. The catch, in fact, was very nearly spilled by Jonny Bairstow as he tumbled forward to snatch at a rare opportunity, but he somehow clung on to give England late reward for a day’s work full of effort but somewhat lacking in inspiration.In fact, had it not been for Bangladesh’s peculiar aversion to breaks in play, their position could have been all the more promising by the close. In addition to Stokes’ late breakthrough, three of their other four wickets fell in the final over of a session – two in four balls to Moeen Ali before lunch, before a further breakthrough for Adil Rashid on the stroke of tea. Mushfiqur’s departure left a huge onus on the shoulders of Shakib, who reached the close on 31 not out, and who will resume day three knowing that the second new ball will be available within the first half-hour of play.The most prized scalp, however, went to the oldest spinner in town. In the 14th over of his England comeback – at the age of 39 and having missed the small matter of 142 Test matches since his last appearance, also against Bangladesh at Chester-le-Street in 2005 – Gareth Batty slid in a flatter, faster ball to Tamim, who grazed a thin nick through to the keeper.Batty’s pop-eyed roar of triumph did not merely reflect his personal jubilation. It was a fair reaction to a wicket of huge significance, for Tamim had been threatening – as he so often does against England – to seize the game for his own amusement. Remarkably, this was his seventh half-century in nine Test innings against England, dating back to his thrill-a-minute centuries at Lord’s and Old Trafford in 2010. Having laid the groundwork in a mightily restrained effort, he had looked ready to lift the tempo as England toiled in the afternoon sun.After England had been bowled out for 293 in the first hour of the day, Tamim reined in his instincts on a treacherous surface and waited 48 balls for his first boundary – a full toss from Rashid that he rifled through the covers with power and placement. His caution had been vindicated in the final over of the morning, when his more fluent opening partner, Imrul Kayes, was bowled for 21 by a beauty from Moeen that gripped and bounced to clip his off stump, before – three balls later – Mominul Haque spliced another bouncing bomb to gully to depart for a duck and leave Bangladesh anxiously placed on 29 for 2 at the break.But as Tamim’s innings progressed, so too did his fluency, particularly on the drive which, by staying very leg-side to the offspin of Moeen and Batty, he was always threatening to unfurl. Sure enough, he brought up his half-century from 131 balls with a sweetly timed back-foot drill off Moeen, to confirm that Bangladesh’s 14-month absence from Test cricket had not impacted on his penchant for statement innings against his favourite opponents.He had two significant moments of fortune – first on 28 when he carved Moeen on the up through point and just burst through the fingers of Rashid, diving to his left. Then, on 55, he was given out caught at slip off Moeen – a fine sprawling effort by Joe Root – but successfully reviewed the decision, as replays showed it had deflected off his elbow.Tamim Iqbal and Mahmudullah steadied the innings for Bangladesh•AFP

The unfortunate umpire was Kumar Dharmasena, who had given Moeen out three times in six balls on the first day, only to have each decision overturned, and he had already added to that tally in the morning session, when a Stuart Broad lbw decision was shown to have been missing leg. Arguably those incidents were still playing on his mind late in the afternoon, when Mushfiqur, on 45, was rapped on the pad by Chris Woakes – one of the few genuine opportunities that England’s seamers were able to create. Hawk-Eye confirmed it would have been clipping leg stump, but Dharmasena seemed reluctant to put his finger on the line yet again.Two balls after Tamim’s reprieve, however, his partner was gone instead. Mahmudullah’s innings of 38 from 66 balls had been a solid, busy performance, right from his first delivery, when he had responded to Moeen’s pre-lunch breakthroughs by galloping down the track with confident footwork to smother the spin before it could bite. But, having come within four balls of completing the entire afternoon session without losing a wicket, he succumbed to a big legbreak from Rashid that looped above his eyeline and snicked a thick edge for Root to scoop a sharp low catch at slip.Aside from that breakthrough, Rashid was a disappointment – too profligate with his full tosses and too easy to navigate off the pitch on the occasions when he found significant turn. Moeen, too, failed to live up to the promise of his double-wicket breakthrough, while Batty, who had shared the new ball with Broad in a seam-spin combo, offered plenty of spirit but little significant threat until Tamim’s departure.It was left to England’s seamers to look lively in the closing overs, as Broad responded to Stokes’ extraction of Mushfiqur by ramping up the pressure on Shakib as Bangladesh dug in for stumps. By and large, however, the trio – Woakes included – were economical but negated, and bowled just 23 overs between them.All in all, England were left to reflect on a first-innings performance that they might initially have thought was above-par for the conditions. After resuming on their overnight 258 for 7, they lost Woakes, the most accomplished of their remaining batsmen, to the first ball of the day, caught at short leg off Taijul Islam for 36, and spent the next 50 minutes scraping together another 35 runs.Rashid, with a penchant for the flick through midwicket, and Broad, using his long levers to sweep to good effect, provided the bulk of those runs but also added their names to the ever-lengthening list of DRS-related decisions in this contest.Rashid, astonishingly, had an lbw overturned when replays showed that an apparently dead-straight pad-rapper would have missed leg stump, while Broad also used DRS to escape an lbw before being last man out, adjudged caught behind after a rare successful review from Bangladesh – the 10th of the innings, a world record. The successful bowler was Mehedi Hasan, who completed a fine debut with figures of 6 for 80.

Faf du Plessis hailed South Africa’s attack for putting in what he considered one of their best bowling efforts in T20 cricket, to seal a series win over India with a game to spare in Cuttack

ESPNcricinfo staff05-Oct-20151:05

‘Best T20 bowling I’ve ever seen’ – du Plessis

Faf du Plessis hailed South Africa’s attack for putting in what he considered one of their best bowling efforts in T20 cricket, to seal a series win over India with a game to spare in Cuttack. “It was amazing to see,” du Plessis said. Many would agree.Before this game, South Africa had bowled out opposition teams for under 100 only four times in T20 cricket, and only twice was that opposition a Test-playing team. Scotland, Afghanistan, Bangladesh and New Zealand have been dismissed for 81, 80, 86 and 96 respectively. Now India have been added to that list and their scalp will be the most celebrated.Not only did South Africa bundle India out for a total far below what is considered a good benchmark in this format, they did it in India in conditions the home side should have had the better of. South Africa adapted to the cracked, slow surface and a combination of aggression from Kagiso Rabada, pace from Chris Morris, discipline from Albie Morkel and some magic from Imran Tahir did the job.Tahir’s two wickets in the 13th over – including that of Suresh Raina – broke the back of India’s innings but it was his role in opening the bowling that caught attention, especially as using a spinner early in an innings is not the South African way.”I suppose it was a gut feel to try and use Immi upfront,” du Plessis said. “He hasn’t bowled in the PowerPlay but it was just a case of changing things up and trying to be unpredictable, so the batsmen can’t plan ahead.””I thought there was great variation in those first six overs. There was spin, there was pace and then we got wickets. Obviously there were two great run-outs as well but the key is to get wickets upfront. Our bowlers did that today. And then the guys coming in after six overs kept trying to do that as well.”Du Plessis deserves some of the credit as well. He managed his bowlers creatively – using Rabada’s four overs in a single spell, rotating Abbott and Morris, and calling on Albie’s experience just when it seemed India might be able to claw their way back. Du Plessis is establishing himself as an astute captain, something he explained he has been learning through association with none other than the opposition captain, with whom he shared a dressing room in the IPL while playing for Chennai Super Kings.”I played with MS when I just started captaining and as a young leader, you look at where you can learn from more experienced leaders. At the time, Dhoni was there and also Stephen Fleming,” du Plessis said. “What you do is try and see what works for them but the most important thing is that you don’t try and copy someone else. You need to be your own leader. You need to know what works for you. By getting through that process, you learn from making mistakes and doing things your way, trying a few other things and then you get to a stage in your career where you have your own identity as a captain.”In IPL 2015, Super Kings were awash with senior players, which allowed du Plessis to essentially crowd source different ideas from a quartet of captains around him. “At Chennai we’ve got very good leaders. This year we had Brendon McCullum, Dwayne Bravo, myself, Fleming and Dhoni. When you have a brains trust, you can only learn,” he said. “It was great with the conversations we had. MS leads the team always but there are good contributions from us in terms of input. Also, Graeme Smith has been a great leader for South Africa. So in the early parts of captaining, he was a person I learnt a lot from.”All that knowledge is starting to show. With the World T20 in India next year, Du Plessis has now led South Africa to two T20 series wins in their last three outings and both have come in the subcontinent. While the ODI side remains a team in transition, the T20 side is starting to appear settled and has, this time, set the tone for what du Plessis hopes will continue to be a successful tour of India.”The way you start is important. If we’d started with a couple of losses, it would have been hard to pull ourselves back up, especially with the conditions. When India is on top, they play really well,” he said. “It was really important for us as a T20 side to start well because we are the team that is starting the tour off. To be 2-0 up against India in India is a big achievement for us and we are really proud of that.”

Mohammad Ashraful and Mominul Haque firmed up their chances of playing the first Test with significant innings on the last day of the tour game in Matara

The Report by Mohammad Isam in Matara05-Mar-2013
ScorecardMominul Haque (left) and Mohammad Ashraful shared a 178-run stand for the third wicket•AFP

Mohammad Ashraful and Mominul Haque firmed up their chances of playing the first Test with significant innings on the last day of the tour game in Matara. The Bangladesh batsmen made best use of a sunny, windy day as their three-day game ended in a draw.Ashraful made 102, his 17th first-class century, and Mominul fell on 99, but missing the landmark wouldn’t deter the young batsman because he made his case for selection for the Galle Test. Mominul batted more than three hours, scoring 99 off 138 balls, and went through phases that were Test-like.He took time to settle down but latched on to anything that made him comfortable. Early on, he used his feet well against the spinners. Mominul was picky against pace, square cutting or driving Lahiru Gamage. He started the second session with a clipped boundary off Kasun Madushanka, and followed up with a cover drive in the same over. He got to his 50 off 74 balls, and then hit a huge straight six against left-arm spinner Dulanjana Mendis. He was batting freely as he neared a fourth first-class century but perished to the pull shot, giving mid-on a simple catch in the final session.Mominul needed to score after a lean BPL to justify his position ahead of Marshall Ayub in this line-up. He was picked to replace Shakib Al Hasan in the side, and thankfully for the selectors the other replacement, Ashraful, also did well.Ashraful left more than he played at in the first session, letting Mominul have a lot of the strike. After lunch he was a different batsman, racing past Mominul to reach 50 when the left-hander was on 47. He moved quickly to his century, off 144 balls, hitting 11 fours and a six. He fell a few minutes later to a terrific catch by Ashan Priyanjan, diving high to his right at first slip.Mahmudullah, the captain Mushfiqur Rahim and Sohag Gazi got some batting practice, making the best of the limited time in the final session. Mahmudullah made a quickfire 56 off 49 balls with three fours and three straight sixes. The fall of his wicket, though, started the fun-phase for Mushfiqur and Gazi as the two added 112 runs in 12 overs. Mushfiqur scored 81 off 69 and Gazi hit 13 fours and two sixes in his unbeaten 82.Opener Jahurul Islam had earlier made a good start but fell for 29 off 74 balls, edging Ishan Jayaratne. Jahurul had been more assured at the crease than Anamul Haque, who struggled to get the ball through the inner circle, and fell for 6.The bowling attack provided less of a challenge to the Bangladesh batsmen, especially on such a good batting pitch that offered almost no lateral movement to the young pace bowlers Madushanka and Gamage. The main spinner, Mendis, is at an early stage in his career and found little assistance in the wicket to challenge the batsmen.

Niall O’Brien, the Ireland wicketkeeper, is on a collision course with Cricket Ireland over his selection for a lucrative Twenty20 league in Bangladesh.

Gerard Siggins21-Jan-2012Niall O’Brien, the Ireland wicketkeeper, is on a collision course with Cricket Ireland over his selection for a lucrative
Twenty20 league in Bangladesh.O’Brien fetched US$80,000 from Khulna Royal Bengal in the Bangladesh Premier League auction. The tournament takes place from February 9-20 and clashes with Ireland’s intercontinental cup games against Kenya. Ireland coach Phil Simmons wants O’Brien in Africa.Ireland play Kenya from February 12-15 and again in two World Cup qualifiers on February 18 and 20. But Ireland’s tour to Kenya could be in doubt because of security concerns. It is understood O’Brien wants to miss the four day game but is keen to play in the ODIs. He said yesterday that he had been advised not to comment but hoped the situation would be resolved.”Nialler’s passionate about Ireland,” said one fellow international. “Anyone who has played with him can see that he plays with his heart on his sleeve. Money has nothing to do with it for him. He’s just mad keen to develop as a player and thinks this could be a great opportunity to open some doors in Asia.”More than US$6m was spent in the auction and O’Brien’s new team also includes West Indians Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Andre Russell, Sri Lanka’s Sanath Jayasuriya and promising English player Jos Buttler. Each team can buy up to eight overseas players but at least one must be from an associate nation.O’Brien was the only Irishman in the auction and the only associate with an original price tag of US$50,000. There are two players from Afghanistan and one each from Hong Kong, Netherlands, Denmark, Kenya, Canada and Namibia, all valued at US$30,000.The six BPL teams will play ten games each in the tournament, the rights to which were bought by an Indian company last month for US$44m.

Rajasthan would press for quick runs on the third morning so that they can increase the required rate and put further pressure on Tamil Nadu

The Bulletin by Sriram Veera04-Jan-2011
Scorecard
Rajasthan’s captain Hrishikesh Kanitkar will have to make the important decision of when to declare tomorrow•ESPNcricinfo Ltd

How much is enough for Rajasthan? They are on 485 for 5 and there are two days left to go in this semi-final. They need time to bowl out Tamil Nadu or else the game will be reduced to one decided on the basis of run-rate. That the pitch has eased up considerably has only muddled the equation Ideally, Rajasthan will press for quick runs on the third morning so that they can increase their run-rate and put further pressure on Tamil Nadu.Today morning was all about consolidation. The pitch was expected to ease up after an hour and though Rajasthan lost their nightwatchman, Aakash Chopra and Robin Bist strove to preserve wickets. Tamil Nadu upped the ante; the bowling, led by L Balaji, was disciplined and the fielding was sharp. With Chopra continuing to be solid outside off, even the right-hand seamers went around the stumps to try a different angle. Chopra square drove the left-arm seamer Suthesh to the point boundary and the singles had started to come more freely when he got out: he tried to work a length delivery from S Sam to the on side, but got a leading edge to gully.Bist then donned the attacking role, off driving and on driving Sam for successive boundaries, and just when he was in stride, he was adjudged lbw when he missed a pull against R Sathish and was hit marginally outside off stump. Rashmi Parida was the set batsman and he tried to break free with a crashing cover drive but S Badrinath intercepted smartly at short extra cover to leave Rajasthan at 388 for 5. It was a crucial moment but Hrishikesh Kanitkar, who limped off the field last evening after edging a drive to his foot, came out with a runner and, in the company of the enterprising Ashok Menaria, propelled Rajasthan towards a large total.While Kanitkar shored up one end, Menaria, the former India Under-19 captain who hit a ton against Mumbai in the quarter-finals, increased the tempo with several attacking shots. He punched off the back foot and square drove when the ball was pitched up and kept the scorecard ticking over. He clouted the spinners for couple of sixes and hit nine fours as 92 runs came in the last session. The second new ball, in particular, leaked runs as the pair stole 26 from the first five overs.”We will bat for a few overs more tomorrow and set up a stiffer target,” Chopra said at the end of the day. “The pitch has eased up and it might come down to run rate but Tamil Nadu will have to contend with the pressure of a large total.”

The squads for the World Twenty20 Qualifier tournament in Dubai and Abu Dubai between February 9 and 15 have been announced

Cricinfo staff29-Jan-2010The squads for the World Twenty20 Qualifier tournament in Dubai and Abu Dubai between February 9 and 15 have been announced.The tournament will see 17 matches take place in the five days, played Abu Dhabi’s Sheikh Zayed Cricket Stadium and the Dubai International Cricket Stadium at Dubai Sports City, where the final will be staged.At stake are two places in the World Twenty20 which takes places in the West Indies from April 30 to May16. The winner of the UAE event will join South Africa and India in Group C while the losing finalist will join Group D which includes the West Indies and England.All eyes will be on Afghanistan, who’s stellar performances over the last ten months have reverberated around the cricketing world and beyond. While they narrowly missed qualification for the 50-over World Cup 2011 in April, they have been in good form at the Intercontinental Cup. Most recently they displayed flair and resilience to defeat defending champions Ireland, and also recorded a come-from-behind, one-wicket victory over the Netherlands in August 2009.Ireland, who have been pushing for full-member status, remain one of the strongest associate sides and their squad includes 13 players from the 2009 World Twenty20 in England, where they defeated Bangladesh by six wickets and qualified for the Super Eights.The Netherlands, who caused the major upset of the 2009 tournament when they defeated England in the opening match, will be without captain Jeroen Smith’s this time round but will still be looking to impress.Afghanistan Dawlat Ahmadzai, Hameed Hasan, Karim Khan Sadiq, Mohammad Asghar Stanikzai, Mohamamd Shahzad Mohammadi, Mohammad Nabi Eisakhil, Merwais Ashraf, Nawroz Khan Mangal, Noor Ali Noori, Obaidullah Konary, Raees Ahmadzai, Shafiqullah Shafaq, Shahpoor Zardan and Samiullah Shinwari.Canada Harvir Baidwan, Ashish Bagai, Geoff Barnett, Umar Bhatti, Ian Billcliff, Rizwan Cheema, Khurram Chohan, John Davison, Sunil Dhaniram, Shaheed Keshvani, Usman Limbada, Henry Osinde, Abdool Samad and Saad Bin Zafar.Ireland Andre Botha, Alex Cusack, Peter Connell, George Dockrell, Trent Johnston, Gary Kidd, John Mooney, Kevin O’Brien, Niall O’Brien, William Porterfield, Boyd Rankin, Paul Striling, Andrew White and Gary Wilson.Kenya James Kamande, Lameck Ngoche, Nehemiah Ngoche, Shem Ngoche, Alex Obanda, Collins Obuya, David Obuya, Nelson Odhiambo, Otieno Ondik, Elijah Otieno, Maurice Ouma, Rakep Patel, Steve Tikolo and Hiren Varaiya.Netherlands Peter Borren, Mudassar Bukhari, Daan van Bunge, Ryan ten Doeschate, Tom de Grooth, Mark Jonkman, Muhammad Kashif, Alexei Kervezee, Atse Buurman, Timothy Gruijters, Edgar Schiferli, Pieter Seelaar, Eric Szwarczynski and Bas Zuiderent.Scotland Richie Berrington,, Kyle Coezter, Gordon Drummond, Gordon Goudie, Gavin Hamilton, Majid Haq, Ross Lyons, Neil McCallum, Dewald Nel, Navdeep Poonia, Simon Smith, Jan Stander, Ryan Watson and Fraser Watts.UAE Fayyaz Ahmed, Saqib Ali, Arfan Haider, Mohamed Iqbal, Amjad Javed, Khurram Khan, Mois Shahid Malik, Naeemuddin, Qadar Nawaz, Ahmed Raza, Abdul Rehman, Shoaib Sarwar, Mohammad Tauqir and Qassim Zubair.USA Timroy Allen, Imran Awan, Orlando Baker, Lennox Cush, Kevin Darlington, Sudesh Dhaniram, Glenmore Hall, Rashard Marshall, Steve Massiah, Sushil Nadkarni, Usman Shuja, Aditya Thyagarajan and Saurabh Verma Carl Wright.

The franchise says Dravid was offered a broader position as part of the restructuring, but he decided not to take it

ESPNcricinfo staff30-Aug-2025Rahul Dravid’s stint as head coach of Rajasthan Royals (RR) has come to an end after just one season. In a statement on Saturday, the franchise said Dravid had been offered a broader position within the set-up, but he chose not to take it.Dravid’s exit despite having a multi-year contract follows a structural review after the team’s ninth-place finish at IPL 2025, their poorest season since 2021 with just four wins in 14 matches. Earlier this month, it came to the surface that Sanju Samson, RR’s captain since IPL 2021, has also asked to be released ahead of the next season.”Head coach Rahul Dravid will conclude his tenure with the franchise ahead of IPL 2026,” the statement said. “Rahul has been central to the Royals’ journey for many years. His leadership has influenced a generation of players, instilled strong values within the squad, and left an indelible mark on the culture of the franchise.Related

• Kumar Sangakkara back to helm Rajasthan Royals' coaching staff

• Did RR pay the price for a faulty retention and auction strategy?

• Samson asks to be released ahead of IPL 2026 auction

• So near, yet so far – the story of Rajasthan Royals' season

“As part of the franchise structural review, Rahul had been offered a broader position at the franchise, but has chosen not to take this. The Rajasthan Royals, its players, and millions of fans worldwide extend heartfelt thanks to Rahul for his remarkable service to the franchise.”Dravid was central to RR’s auction strategy as well as their retentions ahead of a fresh three-year cycle. The franchise retained Samson, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Dhruv Jurel, Riyan Parag and Shimron Hetmyer ahead of the season, which was marred by injuries to key players as well as an inability to cross the line in a number of close finishes.Dravid had first joined RR as a player in 2011, and captained them for two seasons (2012 and 2013), before serving as team director and mentor in 2014 and 2015. His exit means at least two franchises – Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) being the other – are without a head coach for IPL 2026. Last month, Chandrakant Pandit decided to leave KKR after overseeing the side to their first IPL title in ten years in 2024. Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) too are in the midst of a support-staff rejig, having recently brought in B Arun as bowling consultant.RR currently have on board Kumar Sangakkara as director of cricket, Vikram Rathour as batting coach and Shane Bond as bowling coach. The team has not won the IPL title since their victory in the inaugural season in 2008. Their next-best finish came in 2022, when they finished runners-up to Gujarat Titans.