Rajasthan Royals (RR) is a Jaipur-based Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise. RR is one of the original eight IPL franchises when IPL began in 2008. At present RR is owned by Manoj Badale along with other investors. The Pink City franchise won the inaugural edition of IPL under the captaincy of Australian legend Shane Warne, who was also the team's mentor. Rajasthan Royals’ IPL journey has been marred by many controversies. In 2010, BCCI terminated the contract of the franchise but later reversed its decision after reaching a consensus. However, in 2016, Rajasthan Royals was caught in a spot-fixing scandal. The Lodha committee recommended a two-year ban for the team and the BCCI followed it. RR returned to the tournament in 2018 edition. Rajasthan Royals’ home ground is Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur.
Rajasthan Royals went into the playoffs of IPL 2018 season. But failed to make it to the finals as they lost Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in Eliminator. In the 2019 edition of the IPL, Steve Smith is set to return to the team after serving one-year ban in ball-tampering row. His return will boost the confidence of the side as he fills the gap of an experienced player in the middle order. In IPL 2019 players’ auction, Rajasthan Royals has bought 8 new players and while repurchased Jaydev Unadkat again, but this time at a lower price ( Rs 8.4 crore).
Rajasthan Royals players list
Squad Strength: 25 (Indian 17, Overseas 8)
Bought in IPL 2019 auction: Jaydev Unadkat (Rs 84 million), Varun Aaron (Rs 24 million), Oshane Thomas (Rs 11 million), Ashton Turner (Rs 5 million), Liam Livingstone (Rs 5 million), Shashank Singh ( Rs 3 million), Riyan Parag (Rs 2 million), Manan Vohra (Rs 2 million), Shubham Ranjane (Rs 2 million)
Retained: Ajinkya Rahane, Krishnappa Gowtham, Sanju Samson, Shreyas Gopal, Aryaman Birla, S Midhun, Prashant Chopra, Stuart Binny, Rahul Tripathi, Ben Stokes, Steve Smith, Jos Buttler, Jofra Archer, Ish Sodhi, Dhawal Kulkarni, Mahipal Lomror