Team: Rajasthan Royals
City: Jaipur, Rajasthan
Ground: Sawai Mansingh Stadium, Jaipur
IPL Debut: 2008
Number of IPL Titles: 1
Who Are the Rajasthan Royals?
The Rajasthan Royals are best known for being the winners of the inaugural edition of the IPL. Over the years they have developed a reputation for being able to find unknown, high-potential players, and on a uglier note, a team that has been involved in several controversies.
As previously alluded to the Royals are one of the original 8 franchises that played in the inaugural edition of the IPL. The franchise is based in Jaipur, the largest city in the state of Rajasthan, and play their home matches at Sawai Mansingh Stadium, which has a capacity of 30,000.
Wealthy owners
The franchise is owned by Manoj Badale (of Emerging Media IPL Ltd) who holds a 65% stake, with other key minority stakeholders including Lachlan Murdoch (13% stake) and RedBird Capital Partners (15% stake). On the field the franchise is currently led by Sanju Samson as captain and the team is coached by Sri Lankan great Kumar Sangakarra.
Controversy
Apart from Rajasthan’s win in the inaugural tournament, the franchise may be best known for their scandals. The biggest being their suspension from the IPL in 2016 and 2017 after a 2013 betting scandal, in which 3 of their players were charged with match-fixing.
However, although they are the smallest IPL franchise (as determined by social media followers), through their canny signings, unearthing of young talent and strong leaders, like the late, great Shane Warne, they are a franchise which have always been able to punch above their weight.
The IPL History of Rajasthan Royals
Rajasthan Royals were the least expensive team in the 2008 IPL. But, they were crediting for unearthing the rare gems and high potential players. Even in the auction, they didn’t go for the household names of 2008, barring Shane Warne as their skipper.
The team was labelled as one of the weakest teams at the start and it was confirmed when they lost the first game against Delhi Daredevils by nine wickets. However, the narrative soon changed as Shane Watson shined in the first home game against Kings XI Punjab to hand his team the first win. Later, the same player went on to win the Man of the Tournament while helping the side to win the first ever title of the most glamorous league.
Struggled to recapture early success
In the coming seasons, they could not replicate the early success and fell behind in the race. In 2010, they were on the verge of expulsion from the league but they survived as the arbitration was successful. However, it was not enough as the team got caught in the match fixing scandal in 2015 and were banished from the league for two seasons.
Making a comeback in 2018, they had lost the venom and the rigor they had. The side went on to finish in the second half of the table. However, since the COVID pandemic, they have become one of the formidable teams, almost making it to the playoffs twice and even closer to the title in 2022.
Who Holds the Rajasthan Royals Records?
Known for securing the signature of rare gems, the highest scorer for the Rajasthan Royals is also an underrated player in the international circuit. The record is held by Sanju Samson, who has scored 3211 runs for the side over the last decade. The second spot is held by Ajinkya Rahane, who has 2810 runs in the seven seasons he represented the side. Jos Butler is the third highest run scorer for the team.
Big batting totals
The highest individual score for the Rajasthan Royals is held by two players, Jos Buttler and Yashavsi Jaiswal, who have scored 124 runs. Jos scored that against the Orange Army in 2021 whereas Yashasvi scored it recently against Mumbai Indians in 2023. Sanju Samson holds the record for the second highest with 119 runs against the Punjab outfit.
The best bowling records is in the name of Siddharth Trivedi, who was suspended in 2013. He has 65 wickets to his name, whereas, the second and third position is held by Shane Watson (61) and Shane Warne (57) respectively.
The highest wicket in an innings, the best bowling records, is still of the first season where Sohail Tanvir bamboozled the batsmen with his bowling. He picked six wickets for just 14 runs in that innings against Chennai Super Kings.
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