<p>Drought is one of the major abiotic stresses that affects the wheat cultivation and production worldwide. For maintaining productivity and food security, enhancing drought tolerance in wheat is crucial. The present study aimed at selection of drought tolerant RILs based on the morphological, physiological and yield-related traits analyzed from field under control and drought stress conditions across two growing seasons. The study utilized the multivariate selection indices such as multi-trait genotype ideotype distance index (MGIDI) and Smith–Hazel (SH) index and results were integrated with Stress Susceptibility Indexes (SSI) to identify the best drought tolerant and susceptible RILs. The selected 12 RILs each from tolerant and susceptible RILs were evaluated for root traits under osmotic stress at seedling stage. Except average root diameter, all the major root related traits such as primary root length, seminal root length, total root length, root surface area and root volume were significantly higher in tolerant RILs than that of susceptible RILs. The root traits linked to yield under drought stress i.e., increased root length and reduced diameter were positively associated with drought tolerant RILs. Our results highlight the effectiveness of the integrated approach for identifying the tolerant RILs. Furthermore, the observed correlation between seedling root traits under osmotic stress and field-level drought tolerance underscores their potential as reliable indicators of drought tolerance in agricultural environment. The identified tolerant RILs can be deployed as donors, and extreme RILs can be a good resource for identifying genes and mechanism governing root traits and drought tolerance in wheat.</p>