Dravid named new Rajasthan Royals captain

NEW DELHI: Veteran Indian batsman Rahul Dravid was on Saturday named captain of the Indian Premier League team Rajasthan Royals, replacing Australian spin legend Shane Warne who quit the IPL after the fourth edition earlier this year.

"...gotta make another huge announcement, The New Captain fr Rajasthan Royals..Proud 2 have RAHUL DRAVID head the Team this season. Yipee," tweeted the franchise's co-owner Shilpa Shetty.

"So its Official now! The "WALL" it is;)Congratulations Rahul, am sure u will make us all very proud at RR..Go Royals," she added.

The fifth edition of the Twenty20 league will be played from April 4 to May 27 next year.

The 38-year-old Dravid, who was part of Royal Challengers Bangalore team to start with, was bought by the Rajasthan team for $500,000 in the players' auction before the start of IPL 4 this year.

Rajasthan were without a captain after Warne announced his retirement from the IPL in May this year.

The 42-year-old Warne, who coached and captained Royals since the first edition in 2008, is currently playing in the Australian Big Bash Twenty20 Tournament for the Melbourne team.

Dravid was reasonably successful in his debut season for the Royals this year, scoring 343 runs at an average of 31 in 12 matches.