Dravid unveiled as Rajasthan Royals head coach

Rahul Dravid has been formally announced as Rajasthan Royals' new head coach for a multi-year term, and he said it was the "ideal time" to "take on another challenge" after guiding India to the T20 World Cup title in June this year, reports espncricinfo.com.

"I am pleased to be returning to the franchise I have called 'home' for a number of years in the past," Dravid said in a statement, having captained RR in IPL 2012 and 2013, and been their team mentor in 2014 and 2015.

"After the World Cup, I feel it's the ideal time for me to take on another challenge, and the Royals is the perfect place to do that … It's an exciting opportunity for us to take this team to the next level given the kind of talent and resources we have at our disposal and I'm looking forward to getting started."

ESPNcricinfo had reported two days ago that Dravid and RR had signed a deal and also had initial conversations on player retentions ahead of the upcoming mega auction.

He has a long-standing working relationship with the RR captain Sanju Samson, who came through the under-19 ranks on Dravid's watch.