Rajasthan Royals - Shane Warne's Royal Captaincy

The Rajasthan Royals team belongs to the Jaipur franchise of the Indian Premier League (IPL) Twenty20 cricket tournament. The team is captained by the legendary Australian bowler, Shane Warne, who is also the Coach of the Rajasthan Royals. Shane Warne has announced that the 2011 edition of the IPL would be his last as a player.

The Rajasthan Royals gave an excellent performance in IPL 1 (2008) and won the IPL trophy for the season, defying low expectations. The win was largely attributed to the captaincy skills of Shane Warne who could bring together little known Indian players and overseas cricketers to form a tournament-winning team. Explosive batting by Australian Shane Watson also contributed to the tournament championship in 2008.

The Rajasthan Royals team has been mired in controversies and was temporarily banned from IPL 4 (2011). However, the ban was revoked, and the team was allowed to play in IPL 4. IPL 2011 season for the Royals has seen mixed results. The team's efforts will not be enough to progress to the semi-finals of IPL 4.

Owners and Management of the Rajasthan Royals
The Jaipur franchise of the IPL was bought by Manoj Badale of the Emerging Media group for USD 67 million in 2008. The Jaipur IPL team was named Rajasthan Royals as Jaipur is the capital city of the state of Rajasthan in India.

Bollywood actress Shilpa Shetty and her husband Raj Kundra bought a 12 % stake in the Rajasthan Royals team in 2009 through their firm Kuki Investments. Shilpa Shetty is the brand ambassador of the team. Other stakeholders are Suresh Chellaram, Lachlan Murdoch and Aditya Chellaram. .

Sean Morris is the Chief Executive Officer (CEO).

The sponsors of the Rajasthan Royals are Floriana, HDFC Life, supertech, Kingfisher, Arihant and Puma. Some partners of the team are Marriot, Tata Consultancy Services and Amity University.

Rajasthan Royals in IPL 1 to IPL 4 (2008-2010)
The performance of the Rajasthan Royals from 2008 to 2010 editions of the IPL is as follows:

• IPL 1 (2008) - The best IPL performance of the Rajasthan Royals was in the inaugural IPL edition. Some features of the Royals' play in IPL 2008 are:
  
  
  • Out of 14 matches, the Rajasthan Royals won 11 and lost 3.
  • The team was at the top of the IPL league table with 22 points and a Net Run Rate (NRR) of +0.632.
  • Key players included Shane Warne (captain), Yusuf Pathan, Shane Watson, Sohail Tanvir, Swapnil Asnodkar, and Graeme Smith.
  • The Rajasthan Royals beat the Delhi Daredevils in the semi-finals.
  • In the IPL 1 final match, the Rajasthan Royals defeated the Chennai Super Kings in the last ball to win the IPL 2008 tournament.
  • Shane Watson was declared Man of the Series.
    
    
• IPL 2 (2009) - The Rajasthan Royals gave a disappointing result in the second IPL season held in South Africa. Some features of the performance in IPL2 are:
  
  
  • Out of 14 matches, the Rajasthan Royals won 6 and lost 7.
  • The team was ranked sixth in the IPL table, with 13 points and NRR of -0.352.
  • Pakistani star player Sohail Tanvir and Australian Shane Watson could not participate in IPL2. This affected the team's fortunes.
  • Inspite of home conditions, South African opening batsman Graeme Smith could not give good results.
  • Important players in IPL2 Rajasthan Royals were Shane Warne (captain), Yusuf Pathan, Graeme Smith and Swapnil Asnodkar.
    
    
• IPL 3 (2010) - The third edition of the IPL saw the Rajasthan Royals ranking slip further, although Shane Warne continued to give sporadic good bowling efforts. Some features of the team in IPL 3 include:
  
  
  • The Rajasthan Royals won 6 and lost 8 of a total of 14 matches.
  • The team ranked seventh in the IPL points table, having 12 points and NRR of -0.514.
  • Important players of the IPL 2010 squad of the Royals were Shane Warne (captain), Yusuf Pathan, Abhishek Jhunjhunwala, Adam Voges, Michael Lumb and Naman Ojha (wicketkeeper).
  • Warne took 4 wickets for 21 runs against the Deccan Chargers and was named Man of the Match.
    
    

IPL 2011 or IPL 4 - Latest Season
Key batsmen in IPL4 for the Rajasthan Royals are Swapnil Asnodkar, Rahul Dravid, Ross Taylor and Ajikya Rahane.

Important bowlers include Shane Warne (captain), Shaun Tait and Siddharth Trivedi.

The all-rounders are Johan Botha, Stuart Binny, Jacob Oram, Shane Watson and Ashok Menaria.

The Royals had a good start in IPL 4. In some matches Botha and Taylor shined. However, the team has faced subsequent losses. After 13 matches, the team has won 5 and lost 7.

Shane Warne has been instrumental in nurturing young Indian cricketing talent in the Rajasthan Royals. He will retire as player after IPL 4.

Visit the Rajasthan Royals website at www.rajasthanroyals.com