Rajasthan Royals (commonly abbreviated as RR) are an Indian Premier League franchise cricket team based in Jaipur, Rajasthan (IPL). The squad was founded in 2008 as one of the first eight IPL franchises and is situated at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur. The Royals are well-known for discovering hidden, high-potential talent, as well as their involvement in a lot of controversies and scandals.
Despite being written off as a title contender by the media and public, the team won the inaugural edition of the IPL under the captaincy of Shane Warne. Under Rahul Dravid’s captaincy, the Royals finished second in the 2013 Champions League Twenty20.
Rajasthan Royals Team History
In September 2007, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced the formation of the Indian Premier League (IPL), a Twenty20 competition that would begin in 2008. The Rajasthan Royals were one of the eight original clubs in the IPL’s debut season in 2008. Emerging Media purchased the Jaipur-based franchise team for $67 million, making it the league’s least costly team.
The franchise is held by Manoj Badale’s Emerging Media IPL Ltd, which has a 65% ownership as of 2021. Lachlan Murdoch and RedBird Capital Partners are two key minority stakeholders. There have been previous ownership disputes, which resulted in the team’s brief exclusion from the league in 2010. In 2009, the franchise produced a $7.5 million pre-tax profit.
They made their league debut as champions and set high standards. Unfortunately, they were involved in a match-fixing incident, but they recovered stronger. We chronicle the journey of this modest and super-talented crew, from producing cricketing heroes to controversies.
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Rajasthan Royals Team Record
| Year | League table standing | Final position |
|---|---|---|
| 2008\ | 1st out of 8 | Champions |
| 2009 | 6th out of 8 | Group stage |
| 2010 | 7th out of 8 | Group stage |
| 2011 | 6th out of 10 | Group stage |
| 2012 | 7th out of 9 | Group stage |
| 2013 | 3rd out of 9 | Playoffs |
| 2014 | 5th out of 8 | Group stage |
| 2015 | 4th out of 8 | Playoffs |
| 2016 | Suspended | |
| 2017 | Suspended | |
| 2018 | 4th out of 8 | Playoffs |
| 2019 | 7th out of 8 | Group stage |
| 2020 | 8th out of 8 | Group stage |
| 2021 | 7th out of 8 | Group stage |
| 2022 | 2nd out of 10 | Runners-up |
Source: Wikipedia
Flying Start For RR Squad
People were talking about Dhoni’s CSK, Dada’s KKR, Sachin’s Mumbai, and Dravid’s RCB in the first season of the IPL, but very few people were talking about Rajasthan Royals. People were already dismissing them.
Though they were defeated by the Delhi Daredevils in their first encounter, captain Shane Warne’s 76 off 49 balls versus Punjab instilled confidence and belief in the team, and they have gone all guns blazing since then.
The final was against powerhouse Chennai, who had been tipped to win the title from the start of the season. RR proved everyone wrong by winning the inaugural IPL final.
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A downtrend that never came to an end
They emerged as champions out of nowhere (at least for the people) and then vanished from the list of prospective victors for the following IPLs.
In the 12 years since the first IPL season, they have only qualified for the playoffs three times. They mostly relied on the performances of other teams. It must have been vexing and frustrating for any RR fan.
Spot-fixing scandal between CSK and Rajasthan Royals
It’s rather strange since RR had some terrible guys who had committed heinous crimes among young promising prospects. Ankeet Chavan, Ajit Chandila, and Sreesanth, India’s top fast bowler at the time, were all banned for alleged spot-fixing. Despite the fact that they were declared not guilty on all counts by Patiala House Court, the BCCI never lifted the ban.
Following this, other new scandals and issues developed, and RR and CSK were banned from the IPL for the 2016 and 2017 seasons. After serving their bans, both players returned to the IPL in 2018.
Rajasthan Royals has a mine of talent
Ajinkya Rahane, India’s vice-captain in Test cricket came into the limelight after his terrific years with RR. He was the mainstay of RR batting for many years. He was in the team when Rahul Dravid became the mentor of RR and it must have helped him a lot.
Sanju Samson has been regarded by many as the most talented and gifted Indian player of this generation. Sanju definitely has flourished with RR. His exquisite shots are just amazing to witness. Sanju is the current captain of RR.
IPL Summary of Results
| Years | Matches | Wins | Losses | No Result | Success Rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 16 | 13 | 3 | 0 | 81.25% |
| 2009 | 14 | 6 | 7 | 1 | 46.15% |
| 2010 | 14 | 6 | 8 | 0 | 42.86% |
| 2011 | 14 | 6 | 7 | 1 | 46.15% |
| 2012 | 16 | 7 | 9 | 0 | 43.75% |
| 2013 | 18 | 11 | 7 | 0 | 61.11% |
| 2014 | 14 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 50.00% |
| 2015 | 15 | 7 | 6 | 2 | 53.85% |
| 2016 | Suspended | ||||
| 2017 | Suspended | ||||
| 2018 | 15 | 7 | 8 | 0 | 46.67% |
| 2019 | 14 | 5 | 8 | 1 | 38.46% |
| 2020 | 14 | 6 | 8 | 0 | 42.85% |
| 2021 | 14 | 5 | 9 | 0 | 35.71% |
| 2022 | 17 | 10 | 7 | 0 | 58.82% |
| Total | 195 | 96 | 94 | 5 | 49.23% |
Current Squad
Rajasthan Royals (RR), led by Sanju Samson, entered the auction with a purse of Rs 13.2 crore remaining. They had nine positions to fill, with four of those being overseas.
Rajasthan Royals at IPL 2023 auction: Jason Holder (Rs 5.75 Cr),
Donovan Ferreira (Rs 50 lakh)
Kunal Rathore (Rs 20 lakh)
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Adam Zampa (Rs 1.5 crore)
Akash Vashisht (Rs 20 lakh)
Joe Root (Rs 1 Cr)
RR remaining purse: Rs 3.35 crore
Rajasthan Royals 2023 retained players
Wicketkeepers: Sanju Samson, Jos Buttler, Dhruv Jurel.
Batters: Shimron Hetmyer (WI), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Devdutt Padikkal, Riyan Parag.
All-rounders: Ravichandran Ashwin.
Bowlers: Trent Boult, KC Cariappa, Yuzvendra Chahal, Obed McCoy, Prasidh Krishna, Navdeep Saini, Kuldeep Sen, Kuldeep Yadav.
Rajasthan Royals released players: Anunay Singh, Corbin Bosch, Daryl Mitchell, James Neesham, Karun Nair, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Rassie van der Dussen, Shubham Garhwal, Tejas Baroka
Rajasthan Royals Team- Achievements and Awards
- RR- 1st team to lift an IPL trophy
- The first team to have an overseas captain and coach
- 1st team to have multiple home grounds
- First player to win the most valuable player award (Shane Watson)
- First team to chase down a record score of 217
The Rajasthan Royals have the distinction of completing the largest run chase in IPL history, while the team has also scored the most points in a losing cause.
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