Rahul Dravid has been appointed the new captain of Rajasthan Royals, a team official told Cricket Super News. Dravid succeeds Shane Warne, who captained Royals in the first four IPLs and led them to the championship in the league's first season. Dravid was bought by Royals in the 2011 IPL auction for $500,000, after playing for Royal Challengers Bangalore for the first three years. One of the reasons Dravid was signed by Royals was his proven leadership abilities.

Warne announced his retirement from the IPL following the 2011 tournament and Royals had a number of players with leadership experience from which to choose his successor. Their squad includes current New Zealand captain, Ross Taylor, and former international Twenty20 captains Johan Both and Paul Collingwood. Shane Watson, the Australia allrounder was another candidate but in the end Dravid's qualifications were too strong too ignore.

"No one [in the squad] has Rahul Dravid's stature," Raghu Iyer, Rajasthan's spokesperson said. "He is probably one of the world's best ever. Very difficult not to appoint him as captain."

In his debut season with Royals earlier this year, Dravid scored 343 runs in 12 matches at an average of 31.18 and a strike-rate of 109.23. The team finished sixth in the table, and were in the hunt for a play-off spot for most of the season before fading at the end.
© Cricket Super News