Veteran Indian batsman Rahul Dravid, who provided inspirational leadership to the beleaguered Rajasthan Royals this season, has decided to call it quits from the IPL with the upcoming Champions League Twenty20 being his last assignment for the franchise.
"At 41, 12 months is a long way away. Luckily we have qualified for the Champions League (in October) which is a few months away. You know, I think that would be it," the 40-year-old said after RR went out of the IPL following a four-wicket loss to the Mumbai Indians in the second qualifier yesterday.
Dravid enthralled his fans showing some great agility and a new-found aggression in leadership especially at a time when his team was battling spot-fixing allegations, which led to the arrest of its three players.
The arrested trio included, India Test pacer S Sreesanth.
Starting out as a dark horse, Rajasthan Royals enjoyed a fairytale run as it challenged all the big teams, had a dream eight out of eight home wins and almost made the final before losing to Mumbai Indians in a nail-biting penultimate ball finish here last night.
"It's always disappointing when you lose a game. It was a close game, one of those which could have gone either way. Unfortunately we ended up on the losing side. But all the boys should be proud with the way we fought today and ended our campaign."
