2019 Rajasthan Royals season

Rajasthan Royals

2019 season
Coach	Paddy Upton
Captain	Ajinkya Rahane (first 8 matches) Steve Smith (9th match onwards)
Ground(s)	Sawai Mansingh Stadium, Jaipur
2019 Indian Premier League	7th
Most runs	Ajinkya Rahane (393)
Most wickets	Shreyas Gopal (20)
← 2018 2020 →

The 2019 season was the 10th season for the Indian Premier League franchise Rajasthan Royals. The team was captained by Ajinkya Rahane.

Background

Player retention and auction

Main article: List of 2019 Indian Premier League personnel changes

Smith returned to the team after serving his 12-month ban

In November 2018, the Royals announced their list of retained players for the 2019 season. The list included Ajinkya Rahane, Krishnappa Gowtham, Sanju Samson, Shreyas Gopal, Aryaman Birla, Sudhesan Midhun, Prashant Chopra, Stuart Binny, Rahul Tripathi, Dhawal Kulkarni and Mahipal Lomror among Indian players, and Ben Stokes, Steve Smith, Jos Buttler, Jofra Archer, Ish Sodhi among overseas players.[1][2] The Royals thus had a purse of ₹18.3 crore and nine slots remaining in their roster ahead of the player auction.^[citation needed]

On 18 December 2018, the IPL player auction was held in which the Royals signed nine more players: Jaydev Unadkat, Varun Aaron, Oshane Thomas, Ashton Turner, Liam Livingstone, Shashank Singh, Riyan Parag, Manan Vohra and Shubham Ranjane.[3] They filled their quota of 25 players with 17 Indian and 8 overseas players.^[citation needed]

Preseason

In February 2019, the Royals announced that they would wear pink jerseys in the 2019 season, changing from blue which had been the primary colour of their kit since 2008. Team captain Rahane and brand ambassador Shane Warne attributed the change to the Royals' home being Jaipur which is known as "Pink City" as well as the response received for a previous season's match in which they had worn pink for cancer awareness.[4]

In March 2019, the franchise opened a cricket academy based at Reed's School, Surrey, England, called the Rajasthan Royals Academy.[5]

Team analysis

In his preview, Shashank Kishore of ESPNcricinfo wrote that while Royals have "great depth" in their squad they "need strategic precision" in the season. He concluded his analysis saying, "Even if a top-two finish may seem far-fetched, they will definitely be in the running for third or fourth."[6] Firstpost stated that Indian players will "dictate to a great extent [..] the balance of the side [and] their position in two months time" and opined that they have the players "to improve on their Playoff finish from last year."[7] News18 termed the "lack of a world-class spinner" as the team's weakness and suggested that the team "might suffer in the latter stages of the tournament" if their overseas players leave for World Cup preparations.[8]

Squad

• Players with international caps are listed in bold.

No.	Name	Nationality	Birth date	Batting style	Bowling style	Year signed	Salary	Notes
Batsmen
3	Ajinkya Rahane	India	(1988-06-05) 5 June 1988 (age 36)	Right-handed	Right-arm medium	2018	₹4 crore (US$462,000)	Captain till match 8; Vice Captain from match 9 onwards
9	Aryaman Birla	India	(1997-07-09) 9 July 1997 (age 27)	Left-handed	Slow left-arm orthodox	2018	₹30 lakh (US$35,000)
11	Prashant Chopra	India	(1992-10-07) 7 October 1992 (age 32)	Right-handed	Right-arm leg break	2018	₹20 lakh (US$23,000)
18	Manan Vohra	India	(1993-07-18) 18 July 1993 (age 31)	Right-handed	Right-arm medium	2019	₹20 lakh (US$23,000)
27	Liam Livingstone	England	(1993-08-04) 4 August 1993 (age 31)	Left-handed	Right-arm leg break	2019	₹50 lakh (US$58,000)	Overseas
43	Shashank Singh	India	(1991-11-21) 21 November 1991 (age 33)	Right-handed	Right-arm off break	2019	₹20 lakh (US$23,000)
49	Steve Smith	Australia	(1989-06-02) 2 June 1989 (age 35)	Right-handed	Right-arm leg break	2018	₹12 crore (US$1.4 million)	Overseas; Vice Captain till match 8; Captain from match 9
52	Rahul Tripathi	India	(1991-03-02) 2 March 1991 (age 33)	Right-handed	Right-arm medium	2018	₹3.4 crore (US$393,000)
70	Ashton Turner	Australia	(1993-01-25) 25 January 1993 (age 31)	Right-handed	Right-arm off break	2019	₹50 lakh (US$58,000)	Overseas
All-rounders
5	Riyan Parag	India	(2001-11-10) 10 November 2001 (age 23)	Right-handed	Right-arm off break	2019	₹20 lakh (US$23,000)
6	Mahipal Lomror	India	(1999-11-16) 16 November 1999 (age 25)	Left-handed	Slow left-arm orthodox	2018	₹20 lakh (US$23,000)
7	Krishnappa Gowtham	India	(1988-10-20) 20 October 1988 (age 36)	Right-handed	Right-arm off break	2018	₹6.2 crore (US$716,000)
37	Shreyas Gopal	India	(1993-09-04) 4 September 1993 (age 31)	Right-handed	Right-arm leg break	2018	₹20 lakh (US$23,000)
55	Ben Stokes	England	(1991-06-04) 4 June 1991 (age 33)	Left-handed	Right-arm fast-medium	2018	₹12.5 crore (US$1.4 million)	Overseas
84	Stuart Binny	India	(1984-06-03) 3 June 1984 (age 40)	Right-handed	Right-arm medium	2018	₹50 lakh (US$58,000)
700	Shubham Ranjane	India	(1994-03-26) 26 March 1994 (age 30)	Right-handed	Right-arm medium	2019	₹20 lakh (US$23,000)
Wicket-keepers
8	Sanju Samson	India	(1994-11-11) 11 November 1994 (age 30)	Right-handed		2018	₹8 crore (US$924,325.80)
63	Jos Buttler	England	(1990-09-08) 8 September 1990 (age 34)	Right-handed		2018	₹4.4 crore (US$508,000)	Overseas
Bowlers
17	Oshane Thomas	Jamaica	(1997-02-18) 18 February 1997 (age 27)	Left-handed	Right-arm fast-medium	2019	₹1.1 crore (US$127,000)	Overseas
19	Sudhesan Midhun	India	(1994-10-07) 7 October 1994 (age 30)	Right-handed	Right-arm leg break	2018	₹20 lakh (US$23,000)
22	Jofra Archer	England	(1995-04-01) 1 April 1995 (age 29)	Right-handed	Right-arm fast-medium	2018	₹7.2 crore (US$831,893.30)	Overseas
61	Ish Sodhi	New Zealand	(1992-10-31) 31 October 1992 (age 32)	Right-handed	Right-arm leg break	2018	₹50 lakh (US$58,000)	Overseas
77	Varun Aaron	India	(1989-10-29) 29 October 1989 (age 35)	Right-handed	Right-arm fast	2019	₹2.4 crore (US$277,000)
95	Dhawal Kulkarni	India	(1988-12-10) 10 December 1988 (age 36)	Right-handed	Right-arm medium	2018	₹75 lakh (US$87,000)
99	Jaydev Unadkat	India	(1991-10-18) 18 October 1991 (age 33)	Right-handed	Left-arm medium	2019	₹8.4 crore (US$970,542.10)

Coaching and support staff

• Head coach - Paddy Upton
• Batting coach - Amol Muzumdar
• Spin bowling coach - Sairaj Bahutule
• Fast bowling coach - Steffan Jones
• Fielding coach - Dishant Yagnik
• Head of cricket - Zubin Bharucha
• Physiotherapist - John Gloster

Ref[9][10]

Season

League table

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	L	NR	Pts	NRR
1	Mumbai Indians (C)	14	9	5	0	18	0.421	Advanced to Qualifier 1
2	Chennai Super Kings (R)	14	9	5	0	18	0.131
3	Delhi Capitals	14	9	5	0	18	0.044	Advanced to the Eliminator
4	Sunrisers Hyderabad	14	6	8	0	12	0.577
5	Kolkata Knight Riders	14	6	8	0	12	0.028
6	Kings XI Punjab	14	6	8	0	12	−0.251
7	Rajasthan Royals	14	5	8	1	11	−0.449
8	Royal Challengers Bangalore	14	5	8	1	11	−0.607

Source: ESPNCricinfo

The four top ranked teams qualify for the playoffs[11]

Match results

League stage

All times are in Indian Standard Time (UTC+05:30)

25 March 20:00 (D/N) Scorecard

Kings XI Punjab 184/4 (20 overs)	v	Rajasthan Royals (H) 170/9 (20 overs)
Chris Gayle 79 (47) Ben Stokes 2/48 (4 overs)		Jos Buttler 69 (43) Mujeeb Ur Rahman 2/31 (4 overs)

Punjab won by 14 runs Sawai Mansingh Stadium, Jaipur Umpires: K. N. Ananthapadmanabhan (Ind) and Chettithody Shamshuddin (Ind) Player of the match: Chris Gayle (Kings XI Punjab)

• Rajasthan Royals won the toss and elected to field.
• Jos Buttler (Rajasthan Royals) was dismissed by Mankading.[12]

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29 March 20:00 (D/N) Scorecard

Rajasthan Royals 198/2 (20 overs)	v	Sunrisers Hyderabad (H) 201/5 (19 overs)
Sanju Samson 102* (55) Rashid Khan 1/24 (4 overs)		David Warner 69 (37) Shreyas Gopal 3/27 (4 overs)

Hyderabad won by 5 wickets Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium, Hyderabad Umpires: Bruce Oxenford (Aus) and Chettithody Shamshuddin (Ind) Player of the match: Rashid Khan (Sunrisers Hyderabad)

• Rajasthan Royals won the toss and elected to bat.
• This was Sunrisers Hyderabad's highest successful run chase in the IPL.[13]

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31 March 20:00 (D/N) Scorecard

(H) Chennai Super Kings 175/5 (20 overs)	v	Rajasthan Royals 167/8 (20 overs)
MS Dhoni 75* (46) Jofra Archer 2/17 (4 overs)		Ben Stokes 46 (26) Deepak Chahar 2/19 (4 overs)

Chennai won by 8 runs M. A. Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai Umpires: Yeshwant Barde (Ind) and C. K. Nandan (Ind) Player of the match: MS Dhoni (Chennai Super Kings)

• Rajasthan Royals won the toss and elected to field.

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2 April 20:00 (D/N) Scorecard

Royal Challengers Bangalore 158/4 (20 overs)	v	Rajasthan Royals (H) 164/3 (19.5 overs)
Parthiv Patel 67 (41) Shreyas Gopal 3/12 (4 overs)		Jos Buttler 59 (43) Yuzvendra Chahal 2/17 (4 overs)

Rajasthan won by 7 wickets Sawai Mansingh Stadium, Jaipur Umpires: Anil Dandekar (Ind) and Marais Erasmus (SA) Player of the match: Shreyas Gopal (Rajasthan Royals)

• Rajasthan Royals won the toss and elected to field.
• Virat Kohli (Royal Challengers Bangalore) played in his 100th IPL match as captain.[14]

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7 April 20:00 (D/N) Scorecard

(H) Rajasthan Royals 139/3 (20 overs)	v	Kolkata Knight Riders 140/2 (13.5 overs)
Steve Smith 73* (59) Harry Gurney 2/25 (4 overs)		Chris Lynn 50 (32) Shreyas Gopal 2/35 (4 overs)

Kolkata won by 8 wickets Sawai Mansingh Stadium, Jaipur Umpires: Anil Chaudhary (Ind) and Chris Gaffaney (NZ) Player of the match: Harry Gurney (Kolkata Knight Riders)

• Kolkata Knight Riders won the toss and elected to field.

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11 April 20:00 (D/N) Scorecard

(H) Rajasthan Royals 151/7 (20 overs)	v	Chennai Super Kings 155/6 (20 overs)
Ben Stokes 28 (26) Ravindra Jadeja 2/20 (4 overs)		MS Dhoni 58 (43) Ben Stokes 2/39 (3 overs)

Chennai won by 4 wickets Sawai Mansingh Stadium, Jaipur Umpires: Ulhas Gandhe (Ind) and Bruce Oxenford (Aus) Player of the match: MS Dhoni (Chennai Super Kings)

• Chennai Super Kings won the toss and elected to field.

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13 April 16:00 (D/N) Scorecard

(H) Mumbai Indians 187/5 (20 overs)	v	Rajasthan Royals 188/6 (19.3 overs)
Quinton de Kock 81 (52) Jofra Archer 3/39 (4 overs)		Jos Buttler 89 (43) Krunal Pandya 3/34 (4 overs)

Rajasthan won by 4 wickets Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai Umpires: Nand Kishore (Ind) and Nitin Menon (Ind) Player of the match: Jos Buttler (Rajasthan Royals)

• Rajasthan Royals won the toss and elected to field.

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16 April 20:00 (D/N) Scorecard

(H) Kings XI Punjab 182/6 (20 overs)	v	Rajasthan Royals 170/7 (20 overs)
K. L. Rahul 52 (47) Jofra Archer 3/15 (4 overs)		Rahul Tripathi 50 (45) Ravichandran Ashwin 2/24 (4 overs)

Punjab won by 12 runs Punjab Cricket Association IS Bindra Stadium, Mohali Umpires: Anil Chaudhary (Ind) and Vineet Kulkarni (Ind) Player of the match: Ravichandran Ashwin (Kings Xi Punjab)

• Rajasthan Royals won the toss and elected to field.
• Arshdeep Singh (Kings XI Punjab) made his T20 debut.

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20 April 16:00 (D/N) Scorecard

Mumbai Indians 161/5 (20 overs)	v	Rajasthan Royals (H) 162/5 (19.1 overs)
Quinton de Kock 65 (47) Shreyas Gopal 2/21 (4 overs)		Steve Smith 59* (48) Rahul Chahar 3/29 (4 overs)

Rajasthan won by 5 wickets Sawai Mansingh Stadium, Jaipur Umpires: Yeshwant Barde (Ind) and Sundaram Ravi (Ind) Player of the match: Steve Smith (Rajasthan Royals)

• Rajasthan Royals won the toss and elected to field.

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22 April 20:00 (D/N) Scorecard

(H) Rajasthan Royals 191/6 (20 overs)	v	Delhi Capitals 193/4 (19.2 overs)
Ajinkya Rahane 105* (63) Kagiso Rabada 2/37 (4 overs)		Rishabh Pant 78* (36) Shreyas Gopal 2/47 (4 overs)

Delhi won by 6 wickets Sawai Mansingh Stadium, Jaipur Umpires: Nand Kishore (Ind) and Sundaram Ravi (Ind) Player of the match: Rishabh Pant (Delhi Capitals)

• Delhi Capitals won the toss and elected to field.
• Ashton Turner (Rajasthan Royals) became the first batsman to make five consecutive ducks in Twenty20 cricket.[15]

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25 April 20:00 (D/N) Scorecard

(H) Kolkata Knight Riders 175/6 (20 overs)	v	Rajasthan Royals 177/7 (19.2 overs)
Dinesh Karthik 97* (50) Varun Aaron 2/20 (4 overs)		Riyan Parag 47 (31) Piyush Chawla 3/20 (4 overs)

Rajasthan won by 3 wickets Eden Gardens, Kolkata Umpires: Anil Dandekar (Ind) and Ian Gould (Eng) Player of the match: Varun Aaron (Rajasthan Royals)

• Rajasthan Royals won the toss and elected to field.

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27 April 20:00 (D/N) Scorecard

Sunrisers Hyderabad 160/8 (20 overs)	v	Rajasthan Royals (H) 161/3 (19.1 overs)
Manish Pandey 61 (36) Jaydev Unadkat 2/26 (4 overs)		Sanju Samson 48* (32) Shakib Al Hasan 1/26 (3.1 overs)

Rajasthan won by 7 wickets Sawai Mansingh Stadium, Jaipur Umpires: Yeshwant Barde (Ind) and Nand Kishore (Ind) Player of the match: Jaydev Unadkat (Rajasthan Royals)

• Rajasthan Royals won the toss and elected to field.
• Chennai Super Kings qualified for the playoffs as a result of this match.[16]

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30 April 20:00 (D/N) Scorecard

(H) Royal Challengers Bangalore 62/7 (5 overs)	v	Rajasthan Royals 41/1 (3.2 overs)
Virat Kohli 25 (7) Shreyas Gopal 3/12 (1 over)		Sanju Samson 28 (13) Yuzvendra Chahal 1/0 (0.2 overs)

No result M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru Umpires: Ulhas Gandhe (Ind) and Nigel Llong (Eng)

• Rajasthan Royals won the toss and elected to field.
• The match was reduced to 5 overs per side due to rain.
• Royal Challengers Bangalore were eliminated as a result of this match.
• Shreyas Gopal (Rajasthan Royals) took a hat-trick.[17]

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4 May 16:00 (D/N) Scorecard

Rajasthan Royals 115/9 (20 overs)	v	Delhi Capitals (H) 121/5 (16.1 overs)
Riyan Parag 50 (49) Amit Mishra 3/17 (4 overs)		Rishabh Pant 53* (38) Ish Sodhi 3/26 (3.1 overs)

Delhi won by 5 wickets Feroz Shah Kotla, Delhi Umpires: Anil Dandekar (Ind) and Ian Gould (Eng) Player of the match: Amit Mishra (Delhi Capitals)

• Rajasthan Royals won the toss and elected to bat.
• Rajasthan Royals were eliminated as a result of this match.

Statistics

Most runs

No.	Name	Match	Inns	NO	Runs	HS	Ave.	BF	SR	100s	50s	0	4s	6s
1	Ajinkya Rahane	14	13	1	393	105*	32.75	285	137.89	1	1	1	45	9
2	Sanju Samson	12	12	2	342	102*	34.20	230	148.69	1	0	1	28	13
3	Steve Smith	12	10	2	319	73*	39.87	275	116.00	0	3	0	30	4
4	Jos Buttler	8	8	0	311	89	38.87	205	151.70	0	3	0	38	14
5	Riyan Parag	7	5	0	160	50	32.00	126	126.98	0	1	0	17	5

• Last updated: 5 May 2019
• Source:Cricinfo[18]

Most wickets

No.	Name	Match	Inns	Overs	Maidens	Runs	Wickets	BBI	Ave.	Econ.	SR	4W	5W
1	Shreyas Gopal	14	14	48.0	1	347	20	3/12	17.35	7.22	14.4	0	0
2	Jofra Archer	11	11	43.0	2	291	11	3/15	26.45	6.76	23.4	0	0
3	Jaydev Unadkat	11	11	37.2	0	398	10	2/26	39.80	10.66	22.4	0	0
4	Ben Stokes	9	6	16.5	0	189	6	2/39	31.50	11.22	16.8	0	0
5	Dhawal Kulkarni	10	10	35.0	1	335	6	1/14	55.83	9.57	35.0	0	0

• Last updated: 5 May 2019
• Source:Cricinfo[19]

Player of the match awards

No.	Date	Player	Opponent	Result	Contribution	Ref.
1	2 April 2019	Shreyas Gopal	Royal Challengers Bangalore	Won By 7 wickets	3/12 (4 overs)	[20]
2	13 April 2019	Jos Buttler	Mumbai Indians	Won By 4 wickets	89 runs in 43 balls	[21]
3	20 April 2019	Steve Smith	Mumbai Indians	Won By 5 wickets	59* runs in 48 balls	[22]
4	25 April 2019	Varun Aaron	Kolkata Knight Riders	Won By 3 wickets	2/20 (4 overs)	[23]
5	27 April 2019	Jaydev Unadkat	Sunrisers Hyderabad	Won By 7 wickets	2/26 (4 overs)	[24]

References

1. "IPL 2019: Full list of retained players and purse remaining for each team". India today. 16 November 2018. Retrieved 16 November 2018.
2. "IPL auction 2019: Who's retained, who's released? Here's list for all teams". Business Standard. 21 November 2018. Retrieved 21 December 2018.
3. "IPL 2019 Auction: Full squads of all eight teams". times of india. 18 December 2018. Retrieved 18 December 2018.
4. "IPL 2019: Rajasthan Royals to don pink jersey for new season". India Today. Retrieved 22 March 2019.
5. "Rajasthan Royals launches cricket academy in UK". India Today. Retrieved 22 March 2019.
6. "Rajasthan Royals have depth, but need to get their game plans right". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 22 March 2019.
7. "IPL 2019, Rajasthan Royals preview: Questions linger over Ajinkya Rahane's place in team's power-packed middle order". Firstpost. Retrieved 22 March 2019.
8. "IPL 2019: Rajasthan Set to be Hit Hard by World Cup Storm". News18. Retrieved 22 March 2019.
9. "Paddy Upton appointed Rajasthan Royals coach". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 24 March 2019.
10. "IPL 2019: Rajasthan Royals' camp gets underway". Sportstar. Retrieved 24 March 2019.
11. "IPLT20.com - Indian Premier League Official Website - Stats". www.iplt20.com. Retrieved 12 May 2019.
12. "Drama in Jaipur as Jos Buttler mankaded by R Ashwin". ESPNcricinfo. 25 March 2019. Retrieved 25 March 2019.
13. "Decoding the Sanju Samson, David Warner blitzkriegs". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 29 March 2019.
14. "Shreyas Gopal and Jos Buttler hand RCB fourth straight defeat". ESPNcricinfo. 2 April 2019. Retrieved 3 April 2019.
15. "Ashton Turner in record fifth successive T20 duck - four of them first ball". BBC Sport. Retrieved 22 April 2019.
16. "Livingstone, Samson, Unadkat keep Royals' playoff hopes alive". ESPNcricinfo. 27 April 2019. Retrieved 28 April 2019.
17. "Gopal hat-trick in washout, RCB eliminated". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 1 May 2019.
18. "RR Most Runs in IPL 2019". ESPNcricinfo.
19. "RR Most Wickets in IPL 2019". ESPNcricinfo.
20. "Shreyas Gopal and Jos Buttler hand RCB fourth straight defeat". ESPN. Retrieved 2 April 2019.
21. "Buttler fifty sets up sloppy Royals win". ESPN. Retrieved 13 April 2019.
22. "New captain Smith leads Royals home to keep their campaign alive". ESPN. Retrieved 20 April 2019.
23. "Dinesh Karthik's 97* in vain after Riyan Parag and Jofra Archer's late fireworks". ESPN. Retrieved 25 April 2019.
24. "Livingstone, Samson, Unadkat keep Royals' playoff hopes alive". ESPN. Retrieved 27 April 2019.