Rajasthan Royals

Rajasthan Royals IPL 2023 Captain, Vice-Captain, Brand Ambassador, Logo Details

Captain - Sanju Samson

Vice Captain - N/A

Ambassador(S) - N/A

Logo - Two 'Rs' back to back with trumpeting lions on either side and Rajasthan Royals inscribed, all in gold against a blue background.

Jersey - Predominantly pink jersey with accents of blue.

Team Song - Halla Bol.

Major Rivals - Chennai Super Kings, Delhi Capitals, Sunrisers Hyderabad.

Rajasthan Royals History

2008

The Rajasthan Royals squad under the leadership of late Australian spinner Shane Warne was deemed as underdogs by the cricket experts. However, the Royals stunned everyone when they lifted the inaugural cup of IPL after eking out MS Dhoni’s Chennai Super Kings in the final by three wickets. Australia’s Shane Watson (472) and Pakistan fast bowler Sohail Tanvir (22) were the team’s leading run-getter and wicket-taker, respectively. In fact, Tanvir won the first Purple Cap of the IPL.

2009

Royals missed out on Sohail Tanvir’s services after Pakistan players were banned from participating in the IPL from the second season onwards. Shane Watson was ruled out of the season after suffering a mild groin strain during the T20I series against Pakistan just before IPL 2009. Royals suffered a 75-run loss in their first game against Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) after they were skittled out for 58 in the second innings. They eventually finished sixth in the league stage with six wins and seven losses.

2010

Yusuf Pathan set the record for the fastest century of the IPL in Royals’ first game of IPL 2010 against Mumbai Indians. While chasing a mammoth 213, Pathan smashed a 37-ball 100 before R Sathish ran him out. Pathan’s stupendous knock wasn’t sufficient as Royals fell 4 runs short of the target. The team had another dismal season with six wins and eight defeats to end seventh on the points table.

2011

Shane Warne and Shane Watson were retained by the Royals ahead of the 2011 IPL mega auction. There were some notable signings by the franchise with Rahul Dravid being the most prominent one. Ross Taylor, Paul Collingwood, Shaun Tait, Ajinkya Rahane, Ashok Menaria, Stuart Binny were the other players to join Royals in the fourth season. Royals once again finished sixth on the points table but this time it was in a 10-team tournament. Shane Warne bid adieu to the IPL at the end of the season.

2012

Rajasthan Royals appointed Rahul Dravid as Warner’s successor and his opening partnership with Ajinka Rahane was one of the major talking point. The team didn’t saw any progress in their position in the points table under Dravid. They won seven out of 16 matches to finish seventh. With 560 runs in 16 innings at a strike rate of 129.33, Rahane ended the season as Royals’ leading run-score.

2013

The team qualified for the playoffs for the first time since its title-winning campaign in 2008. RR lost to Mumbai in the Qualifier 2. However, the team campaign was rocked by the spot-fixing scandal as three Rajasthan Royals players were arrested. S Sreesanth, Ankeet Chavan and Ajit Chandila were the players sent behind the bars for their involvement in spot-fixing. This was also the last season for Rahul Dravid in the IPL.

2014

Shane Watson took over the Rajasthan Royals captaincy from Dravid. Steve Smith was the top-signing made by the team to add batting flair at the top. Ahead of the final league stage game of the season, RR were comfortably sitting on the fourth position with 14 points. They had a better net-run-rate than Mumbai Indians, whom they played in the last game.

Royals posted 189/4 in the first innings to put themselves in the driver’s seat. Mumbai Indians scripted one of the most spectacular chases in the history of the IPL. Corey Anderson’s blistering 44-ball 95 helped them chase the target in just 14.4 overs as MI pipped RR on the table to qualify for the playoffs.

2015

Royals won seven out of 14 matches and had two of their games abandoned due to weather conditions. Steve Smith captained in most of the games in 2015, with Shane Watson wanting to focus on his personal game. They finished fourth on the points table to play the Eliminator game in the playoffs. Virat Kohli’s RCB ended their campaign with a thumping 71-run win in the Eliminator. Royals were slapped with two years of suspension from the IPL over the 2013 betting scandal, where one of their owners (Raj Kundra) was found guilty.

2018

The franchise returned back to the cash-rich league after serving a two-year ban along with Chennai Super Kings. Steven Smith was initially named the captain of Rajasthan Royals but was banned by the BCCI in the aftermath of the ball-tampering saga in Cape Town. Ajinkya Rahane was named replacement for the captaincy role. The Mumbaikar led Royals to a playoffs spot but they lost to KKR in the Eliminator round.

2019

Smith returned to the Royals set-up to boost their batting order. Royals had a star-studded overseas unit with the likes of Jos Buttler, Ben Stokes and Jofra Archer present there. After losing six out of the first six games, Smith was reinstated in the captaincy role. Royals finished at the seventh place in the league stage with five wins and eight losses.

2020

The Royals started with two massive wins over CSK and KXIP but four straight losses in a row shaked their momentum. The Steve Smith-led team managed to win only six games in the league stage and finished at the bottom of the points table (12 points).

2021

Royals released Smith ahead of the auction in 2021 and wicketkeeper-batter Sanju Samson was named the new captain. Samson had a poor start to his IPL captaincy as Royals managed five wins in 14 games in IPL 2021 under his reign.

2022

Jos Buttler’s astounding run with the bat - 863 runs in 17 matches - was instrumental in guiding the Royals to their second IPL final. Rajasthan finished in the second place on points table with nine victories and five defeats. They lost to the new team Gujarat Titans twice in the playoffs. Buttler and Yuzvendra Chahal (27 wickets in 17 games) bagged the Orange and Purple caps respectively.

Find the Rajasthan Royals Match schedule, timings, venues and match details on Sportskeeda.

Rajasthan Royals IPL 2023 Administration and Support Staff

CEO: Jake Lush McCrum

Team Manager: Romi Bhinder

Director of Cricket Operations and Head Coach: Kumar Sangakkara

Development and Performance Director: Zubin Bharucha

Assistant Coach: Trevor Penny

Fast Bowling Coach: Lasith Malinga

High Performance Fast Bowling Coach: Steffan Jones

Fielding Coach: Dishant Yagnik

Performance Specialist: AT Rajamani Prabhu

Rajasthan Royals IPL 2023 Team Sponsors

Rajasthan Royals haven’t roped in enough sponsors unlike the other IPL teams. The franchise have only four sponsors for the IPL 2023 season. BKT, Dollar and Jio are the principal sponsors of Rajasthan Royals, while McDowell’s No.1 is their another sponsor.

RR - Batting Stats

Most Runs: Ajinkya Rahane: 3098 runs

Most Centuries: Jos Buttler: 5

Most Fifties: Ajinkya Rahane: 21

Best Average: Jos Buttler: 46.08

Best Strike Rate: Kevon Cooper: 175.30

Most Ducks: Shane Warne and Stuart Binny (7)

Most Fours: Ajinkya Rahane: 329

Most Sixes: SanjuSamson: 136

Highest Score: Jos Buttler: 124

Most Runs In A Season: -

RR - Bowling Stats

Most Wickets: Shane Watson: 67 wickets

Best Economy: Aaron Finch: 4.28

Best Bowling Figures: Sohail Tanvir - 4-14-6

Best Average: Lee Carseldine: 6.00

Most Runs Condeded In An Innings: Ankit Rajpoot (4-0-60-0)

Most 4 Wickets: Pravin Tambe, Kevon Cooper, Chris Morris (2 each)

Most 5 Wickets: James Faulkner (2)

RR - Team Stats

Highest score: 226/6

Lowest score: 58/10

Fan Base

The official Instagram handle of RR has over 2.7 million followers, while their Twitter account has 2.6 million followers. On YouTube the official Rajasthan Royals account has over 636K subscribers. Rajasthan Royals' Facebook page is also very active with regular updates and uploads and more than 5 million followers. The social media platforms of Rajasthan Royals are well known for their humour and witty messages, which is something other franchises are yet to give it a try.

Rajasthan Royals - Team Performance over the years

The updated list of Rajasthan Royals Team 2023 can be viewed here.

Rajasthan Royals IPL 2023 Squad - Players to Watchout

#1. Jos Buttler

After an extraordinary last season, Buttler will be on his track to score huge heaps of runs yet again. The wicketkeeper-batsman from England is a run-machine. Apart from his batting skills, Buttler has other services to offer. He is simply brilliant behind the wicket which is going to be a crucial asset to RR's disposal.

#2. Yuzvendra Chahal

With his magical spin bowling, Chahal will be a big threat to the opposition batters. He has the ability to bowl at the death and stop the run flow, resulting in him getting quick wickets. Being the Purple Cap winner of last season, Chahal will be looking to pull his team all the way this time around and win their second IPL Trophy.

#3. Sanju Samson

Sanju Samson was just a young talent when he got drafted to RR. But today he has risen to the position of the Rajasthan Royals captain. With his serious hitting abilities, he can cause some serious damage to the opposition. Additionally, he can make big scores as well which only adds to his batting prowess.

#4. Shimron Hetmyer

The Caribbean is known for hitting big shots and finishing the job for Rajasthan Royals. He can take down any bowler at his own will while also playing smartly and patiently. His capabilities as a batter will definitely be a worry for any opposition.

#5. Trent Boult

The left-arm fast bowler from New Zealand will be the heart of the Rajasthan Royals pace attack. His efficiency at both ends of the innings and along with the swing he gets during the opening overs, allows him to take bags of wickets.