Rajasthan Royals

Introduction to Rajasthan Royals (RR):

The Rajasthan Royals are one of the eight founding teams of the IPL and have participated in the tournament since 2008. The team has stayed true to their tagline ‘Transform Society through Cricket, and Cricket through Innovation’ to date.

As the first team to lift the IPL trophy, they have set their standards high.  Rajasthan Royals have always played entertaining cricket and are known for their indomitable spirit to persevere against adversity.

Overview of Rajasthan Royals

The Rajasthan Royals is one of the highly respected teams in the Indian Premier League (IPL).  The team personifies the enthusiasm, courage, and strength of the land they represent. The Royals as they call themselves, are pioneers in recognising and promoting fresh talent from India and around the world.

The team has a reputation for spending frugally, selecting relatively unknown players and turning them into international sensations. The team's monochromatic logo, which has a crown above the team initials, is synonymous with the pride and grandeur of the team spirit. Manoj Badale's Royals Sports Group paid $67 million for the franchise, making it the least expensive of all the IPL franchises.

Team History

Season 1: 2008

The Rajasthan Royals, regarded as the weakest team, even before the tournament began, overcame their underdog tag by defeating the Chennai Super Kings in the final for a title win. 

Seasons 2 and 3: 2009 and 2010

The defending champions started badly and did not qualify for the semi-finals in 2009. They repeated a similar performance in 2010 and did not qualify for the playoffs.

Season 4: 2011

The franchise was temporarily withdrawn from the IPL owing to ownership issues but was later reinstated. Despite this, the team began this season admirably, but inconsistent performances resulted in them winning only six of their 14 games.

Seasons 5 and 6: 2012 and 2013

The Rajasthan Royals team finished sixth in season 5 and were ousted from the tournament in the qualifiers in season 6. Additionally, the team faced turmoil with match-fixing allegations involving three players, who were eventually suspended.

Seasons 7 and 8: 2014 and 2015

Rajasthan Royals finished fifth in season 7. They lost to Royal Challengers Bangalore in the eliminator and exited from the tournament in 2015.  

The Rajasthan Royals were banned for two years in 2015 due to a violation of Board of Cricket Control in India (BCCI) rules.

Season 11: 2018

The Rajasthan Royals Team returned to the IPL after a two-year hiatus and were faced with Steve Smith’s ball-tampering controversy. 

Under the leadership of Ajinkya Rahane, the team was eliminated from the tournament following a defeat to the Kolkata Knight Riders in the eliminator match.

Seasons 12, 13: 2019 and 2020

The performance of the Rajasthan Royals team in both seasons was disappointing. Steve Smith’s captaincy did not help the team as they ended up in the seventh and eighth position amongst the teams in 2019 and 2020 respectively.  

Seasons 14 and 15: 2021 and 2022

Sanju Samson replaced Steve Smith as the captain but the team managed to climb up only to the seventh position in the table. The team did better than the previous seasons and ended up as runner-up of the tournament in 2022.  

Season 16: 2023

Though they started well, they won and lost an equal number of league games in this season to finish fifth. 

Achievements and Trophies

The Rajasthan Royals are a team of firsts. They were the first team to win an IPL title, to have a foreign coach and captain, and the first team to have more than one ground. 

Yusuf Pathan of the Rajasthan Royals hit the fastest IPL century in 37 balls in 2010. Shane Watson was awarded the Man of the Series award in 2008. The Rajasthan Royals Team won the Fair Play Award in 2012 and 2022. 

Yashasvi Jaiswal won the Emerging Player award, Yuzvendra Chahal won the orange cap for the most number of wickets, and Jos Butler won the purple cap and the Most Valuable Player award in 2023.

Rajasthan Royals - Squad List

Coach: Kumar Sangakkara

Captain: Sanju Samson

Vice-Captain:  Ravichandran Ashwin

Rajasthan Royals – Player Profiles

Sanju Samson

The wicket-keeper batsman made his IPL debut in 2013 and has been a permanent fixture since. The batsman is well known for his hard-hitting knocks and has amassed 3888 runs in the 152 matches he has played.  

Jos Butler

The England-born wicket-keeper batsman famous for his stroke play has 3223 runs to his credit, including a century from 96 IPL matches.   

Shimron Hetmyer

The left-handed West Indian batsman is a big scorer and debuted in 2019. He has 1131 runs from 60 matches.

Yashasvi Jaiswal

This young batting sensation was bought by Rajasthan Royals in the year 2020. The fact that he has 1172 runs to his credit from only 37 matches speaks volumes about his batting prowess.

Dhruv Jurel

Another young find, this wicketkeeper-batsman made his debut in 2023 and has 152 runs from 13 matches.

Riyan Parag

The right-handed hard-hitting batsman is the youngest player to score an IPL fifty. He has a total of 600 runs from 54 matches.

Rovman Powell

The West Indian batsman made his IPL debut in 2022 and has played 17 matches scoring 257 runs.

Ravichandran Ashwin

The veteran all-rounder played his first IPL match in 2009 and has managed to spin a web around the opposition players with his exemplary display of off-spins. Known as a thinking cricketer, he has over 714 runs and 171 wickets from 197 matches.

Avesh Khan

The right-handed fast bowler can make the ball move both ways. He made his IPL debut in 2017 and has 55 wickets from 47 matches.

Kuldeep Sen

Sen is a recent addition and has 8 wickets from 9 matches.

Navdeep Saini

Saini possesses a promising talent in fast bowling. With 32 matches under his belt since 2019, he has secured 23 wickets.

Prasidh Krishna

A very impressive right-arm fast bowler with commendable wicket-taking abilities, Prasidh Krishna has 49 wickets from 51 IPL matches since 2018.

Sandeep Sharma

Sharma is a consistent right arm medium pace bowler with 114 wickets from 104 matches. His average stands at 26.33, accompanied by an impressive economy rate of 7.77.

Trent Boult

The left-arm fast bowler from New Zealand made his IPL debut in 2015. In 88 IPL matches, he has 105 wickets. He is also an exceptional fielder.  

Yuzvendra Chahal

Chahal is a match-winning wrist spinner and the latest addition to the Rajasthan Royals team's spin baton. He has 187 wickets under his belt from 145 IPL matches. 

Adam Zampa

The Australian bowler has 29 wickets from 20 matches and has been participating in the IPL since 2016.

Kunal Rathore, Donovan Ferreira, Shubham Dubey, Nandre Burger, Abid Mushtaq and Tom Kohler-Cadmore are yet to play their first IPL matches.

Conclusion: 

Despite their initial success in the inaugural IPL season, the Rajasthan Royals have experienced inconsistency throughout subsequent seasons, often reaching the playoffs but failing to capitalise on their opportunities.

As they gear up for IPL 2024, Rajasthan Royals, equipped with a blend of seasoned veterans and promising young talent, aim to secure their second title victory in the franchise's seventeenth season.