# 2021 Rajasthan Royals season

The 2021 season was the 12th season for the Indian Premier League franchise Rajasthan Royals. After winning only 5 matches out of 14 matches, they finished seventh in the tournament.

## Background
### Player retention and transfers

The Rajasthan Royals retained 17 players and released eight players.

#### Retained

    Sanju Samson, Ben Stokes, Jofra Archer, Jos Buttler, Mahipal Lomror, Manan Vohra, Mayank Markande, Rahul Tewatia, Riyan Parag, Shreyas Gopal, Robin Uthappa (traded to Chennai super kings), Jaydev Unadkat, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Anuj Rawat, Kartik Tyagi, David Miller, Andrew Tye

#### Released

    Steve Smith, Akash Singh, Aniruddha Joshi, Ankit Rajpoot, Oshane Thomas, Shashank Singh, Tom Curran, Varun Aaron

#### Added

    Shivam Dube, Chris Morris, Mustafizur Rahman, Liam Livingstone, Chetan Sakariya, Kuldip Yadav, Akash Singh, K. C. Carriapa

## Squad

* Players with international caps are listed in bold.
| No. | Name | Nationality | Birth date | Batting style | Bowling style | Year signed | Salary | Notes |
| Batsmen |||||||||
| 10 | David Miller | South Africa | (1989-06-10) 10 June 1989 (age 35) | Right-handed | Right-arm off break | 2020 | ₹75 lakh (US$90,000) | Overseas |
| 24 | Manan Vohra | India | (1993-07-18) 18 July 1993 (age 31) | Right-handed | Right-arm medium | 2019 | ₹20 lakh (US$24,000) | |
| 7 | Liam Livingstone | England | (1993-08-04) 4 August 1993 (age 31) | Right-handed | Right-arm leg break | 2021 | ₹75 lakh (US$89,864.20) | Overseas |
| 19 | Yashasvi Jaiswal | India | (2001-12-28) 28 December 2001 (age 22) | Left-handed | Right-arm leg break | 2020 | ₹2.4 crore (US$290,000) | |
| 17 | Evin Lewis | Jamaica | (1991-12-27) 27 December 1991 (age 32) | left-handed | Right-arm off break | 2021 | | Overseas |
| All-rounders |||||||||
| 42 | Oshane Thomas | Barbados | (1997-02-18) 18 February 1997 (age 27) | Right-handed | Right arm fast | 2021 | | Overseas |
| 2 | Chris Morris | South Africa | (1987-04-30) 30 April 1987 (age 37) | Right-handed | Right-arm fast-medium | 2021 | ₹16.25 crore (US$1.9 million) | Overseas |
| 4 | Rahul Tewatia | India | (1993-05-20) 20 May 1993 (age 31) | Left-handed | Right-arm leg break | 2020 | ₹75 lakh (US$90,000) | Vice Captain |
| 25 | Shivam Dube | India | (1993-06-26) 26 June 1993 (age 31) | Left-handed | Right-arm medium fast | 2021 | ₹4.4 crore (US$527,203.20) | |
| 3 | Shreyas Gopal | India | (1993-09-04) 4 September 1993 (age 31) | Right-handed | Right-arm leg break | 2018 | ₹20 lakh (US$24,000) | |
| 6 | Mahipal Lomror | India | (1999-11-16) 16 November 1999 (age 24) | Left-handed | Slow left-arm orthodox | 2018 | ₹20 lakh (US$24,000) | |
| 5 | Riyan Parag | India | (2001-11-10) 10 November 2001 (age 22) | Right-handed | Right-arm leg break | 2019 | ₹20 lakh (US$24,000) | |
| Wicket-keepers |||||||||
| 11 | Sanju Samson | India | (1994-11-11) 11 November 1994 (age 29) | Right-handed | Right-arm medium | 2018 | ₹8 crore (US$958,551.30) | Captain |
| 98 | Glenn Phillips | New Zealand | (1996-12-06) 6 December 1996 (age 27) | Right-handed | Right-arm off break | 2021 | ₹50 lakh (US$60,000) | Overseas |
| 12 | Anuj Rawat | India | (1999-10-17) 17 October 1999 (age 24) | Left-handed | N/A | 2020 | ₹80 lakh (US$96,000) | |
| Spin Bowlers |||||||||
| 26 | Tabraiz Shamsi | South Africa | (1990-02-18) 18 February 1990 (age 34) | Right-handed | Left-arm unorthodox spin | 2021 | | Overseas |
| 94 | K. C. Cariappa | India | (1994-04-13) 13 April 1994 (age 30) | Right-handed | Right-arm leg break | 2021 | ₹20 lakh (US$24,000) | |
| 99 | Mayank Markande | India | (1997-11-11) 11 November 1997 (age 26) | Right-handed | Right-arm leg break | 2020 | ₹20 lakh (US$24,000) | |
| Pace Bowlers |||||||||
| 77 | Jaydev Unadkat | India | (1991-10-18) 18 October 1991 (age 32) | Right-handed | Left-arm fast | 2020 | ₹3 crore (US$359,456.70) | |
| 90 | Mustafizur Rahman | Bangladesh | (1995-09-06) 6 September 1995 (age 29) | Left-handed | Left-arm fast-medium | 2021 | ₹1 crore (US$119,818.90) | Overseas |
| 15 | Kuldip Yadav | India | (1996-10-15) 15 October 1996 (age 27) | Left-handed | Left-arm medium-fast | 2021 | ₹20 lakh (US$24,000) | |
| 28 | Chetan Sakariya | India | (1998-02-28) 28 February 1998 (age 26) | Left-handed | Left-arm medium-fast | 2021 | ₹1.2 crore (US$140,000) | |
| 9 | Kartik Tyagi | India | (2000-11-08) 8 November 2000 (age 23) | Right-handed | Right-arm medium-fast | 2020 | ₹1.3 crore (US$155,764.60) | |
| 117 | Akash Singh | India | (2002-04-26) 26 April 2002 (age 22) | Right-handed | Left-arm medium-fast | 2021 | ₹20 lakh (US$24,000) | |
| Source:RR Players |||||||||

## Administration and support staff

| Position | Name |
| Owner | Manoj Badale, Lachlan Murdoch, Gerry Cardinale |
| COO | Jake Lush McCrum |
| CEO | Mike Fordham |
| Team Manager | Romi Bhinder |
| Brand ambassador and mentor | Shane Warne |
| Director of Cricket | Kumar Sangakkara |
| Assistant coach | Trevor Penney |
| Development and performance director | Zubin Bharucha |
| Batting coach | Amol Mazumdar |
| Spin bowling coach | Sairaj Bahutule |
| Team Liaison and spin bowling consultant | Ish Sodhi |
| Fast bowling coach | Rob Cassell |
| Fast bowling development coach | Steffan Jones |
| Fielding coach | Dishant Yagnik |
| Physiotherapist | John Gloster |
| Strength and conditioning coach | Rajamani Prabhu |
| Team doctor | Rob Young |
| Source: ||

## Teams and standings
### Results by match

| Round | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 |
| Result | L | W | L | L | W | L | W | W | L | L | L | W | L | L |
| Position | 6 | 5 | 6 | 8 | 6 | 7 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 6 | 7 | 7 |

### League table 2021

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | L | NR | Pts | NRR | |
| 1 | Delhi Capitals (3rd) | 14 | 10 | 4 | 0 | 20 | 0.481 | Advanced to Qualifier 1 |
| 2 | Chennai Super Kings (C) | 14 | 9 | 5 | 0 | 18 | 0.455 | Advanced to Qualifier 1 |
| 3 | Royal Challengers Bangalore (4th) | 14 | 9 | 5 | 0 | 18 | −0.140 | Advanced to the Eliminator |
| 4 | Kolkata Knight Riders (R) | 14 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 14 | 0.587 | Advanced to the Eliminator |
| 5 | Mumbai Indians | 14 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 14 | 0.116 | |
| 6 | Punjab Kings | 14 | 6 | 8 | 0 | 12 | −0.001 | |
| 7 | Rajasthan Royals | 14 | 5 | 9 | 0 | 10 | −0.993 | |
| 8 | Sunrisers Hyderabad | 14 | 3 | 11 | 0 | 6 | −0.545 | |

## League stage

The full schedule was published on the IPL website on 7 March 2021.

### Matches

* Match 4 12 April 2021 19:30 (N) Scorecard
| Punjab Kings 221/6 (20 overs) | v | Rajasthan Royals 217/7 (20 overs) |
| KL Rahul 91 (50) Chetan Sakariya 3/31 (4 overs) | | Sanju Samson 119 (63) Arshdeep Singh 3/35 (4 overs) |
* Punjab Kings won by 4 runs Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai Umpires: Anil Chaudhary (Ind) and Sundaram Ravi (Ind) Player of the match: Sanju Samson (Rajasthan Royals)
* Rajasthan Royals won the toss and elected to field.
* Match 7 15 April 2021 19:30 (N) Scorecard
| Delhi Capitals 147/8 (20 overs) | v | Rajasthan Royals 150/7 (19.4 overs) |
| Rishabh Pant 51 (32) Jaydev Unadkat 3/15 (4 overs) | | David Miller 62 (43) Avesh Khan 3/32 (4 overs) |
* Rajasthan Royals won by 3 wickets Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai Umpires: Sundaram Ravi (Ind) and Virender Sharma (Ind) Player of the match: Jaydev Unadkat (Rajasthan Royals)
* Rajasthan Royals won the toss and elected to field.
* Match 12 19 April 2021 19:30 (N) Scorecard
| Chennai Super Kings 188/9 (20 overs) | v | Rajasthan Royals 143/9 (20 overs) |
| Faf du Plessis 33 (17) Chetan Sakariya 3/36 (4 overs) | | Jos Buttler 49 (35) Moeen Ali 3/7 (3 overs) |
* Chennai Super Kings won by 45 runs Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai Umpires: Paul Reiffel (Aus) and Virender Sharma (Ind) Player of the match: Moeen Ali (Chennai Super Kings)
* Rajasthan Royals won the toss and elected to field.
* MS Dhoni became the first player to play 200 matches as a captain in the IPL.
* Match 16 22 April 2021 19:30 (N) Scorecard
| Rajasthan Royals 177/9 (20 overs) | v | Royal Challengers Bangalore 181/0 (16.3 overs) |
| Shivam Dube 46 (32) Mohammed Siraj 3/27 (4 overs) | | Devdutt Padikkal 101* (52) |
* Royal Challengers Bangalore won by 10 wickets Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai Umpires: Jayaraman Madanagopal (Ind) and Sundaram Ravi (Ind) Player of the match: Devdutt Padikkal (Royal Challengers Bangalore)
* Royal Challengers Bangalore won the toss and elected to field.
* Virat Kohli (Royal Challengers Bangalore) became the first player to score 6,000 runs in the IPL.
* Match 18 24 April 2021 19:30 (N) Scorecard
| Kolkata Knight Riders 133/9 (20 overs) | v | Rajasthan Royals 134/4 (18.5 overs) |
| Rahul Tripathi 36 (26) Chris Morris 4/23 (4 overs) | | Sanju Samson 42* (41) Varun Chakravarthy 2/32 (4 overs) |
* Rajasthan Royals won by 6 wickets Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai Umpires: Sundaram Ravi (Ind) and Navdeep Singh (Ind) Player of the match: Chris Morris (Rajasthan Royals)
* Rajasthan Royals won the toss and elected to field.
* Match 24 29 April 2021 15:30 (D/N) Scorecard
| Rajasthan Royals 171/4 (20 overs) | v | Mumbai Indians 172/3 (18.3 overs) |
| Sanju Samson 42 (27) Rahul Chahar 2/33 (4 overs) | | Quinton de Kock 70* (50) Chris Morris 2/33 (4 overs) |
* Mumbai Indians won by 7 wickets Arun Jaitley Stadium, Delhi Umpires: K. N. Ananthapadmanabhan (Ind) and Chris Gaffaney (NZ) Player of the match: Quinton de Kock (Mumbai Indians)
* Mumbai Indians won the toss and elected to field.
* Match 28 2 May 2021 15:30 (D/N) Scorecard
| Rajasthan Royals 220/3 (20 overs) | v | Sunrisers Hyderabad 165/8 (20 overs) |
| Jos Buttler 124 (64) Rashid Khan 1/24 (4 overs) | | Manish Pandey 31 (20) Mustafizur Rahman 3/20 (4 overs) |
* Rajasthan Royals won by 55 runs Arun Jaitley Stadium, Delhi Umpires: Chris Gaffaney (NZ) and Chettithody Shamshuddin (Ind) Player of the match: Jos Buttler (Rajasthan Royals)
* Sunrisers Hyderabad won the toss and elected to field.
* Match 32 21 September 2021 19:30 (N) Scorecard
| Rajasthan Royals 185 (20 overs) | v | Punjab Kings 183/4 (20 overs) |
| Yashasvi Jaiswal 49 (36) Arshdeep Singh 5/32 (4 overs) | | Mayank Agarwal 67 (43) Kartik Tyagi 2/29 (4 overs) |
* Rajasthan Royals won by 2 runs Dubai International Cricket Stadium, Dubai Umpires: Anil Chaudhary (Ind) and Michael Gough (Eng) Player of the match: Kartik Tyagi (Rajasthan Royals)
* Punjab Kings won the toss and elected to field.
* Match 36 25 September 2021 15:30 (D/N) Scorecard
| Delhi Capitals 154/6 (20 overs) | v | Rajasthan Royals 121/6 (20 overs) |
| Shreyas Iyer 43 (32) Mustafizur Rahman 2/22 (4 overs) | | Sanju Samson 70* (53) Anrich Nortje 2/18 (4 overs) |
* Delhi Capitals won by 33 runs Sheikh Zayed Cricket Stadium, Abu Dhabi Umpires: Chris Gaffaney (NZ) and Ulhas Gandhe (Ind) Player of the match: Shreyas Iyer (Delhi Capitals)
* Rajasthan Royals won the toss and elected to field.
* Match 40 27 September 2021 19:30 (N) Scorecard
| Rajasthan Royals 164/5 (20 overs) | v | Sunrisers Hyderabad 167/3 (18.3 overs) |
| Sanju Samson 82 (57) Siddarth Kaul 2/36 (4 overs) | | Jason Roy 60 (42) Mahipal Lomror 1/22 (3 overs) |
* Sunrisers Hyderabad won by 7 wickets Dubai International Cricket Stadium, Dubai Umpires: K. N. Ananthapadmanabhan (Ind) and Navdeep Singh (Ind) Player of the match: Jason Roy (Sunrisers Hyderabad)
* Rajasthan Royals won the toss and elected to bat.
* Match 43 29 September 2021 19:30 (N) Scorecard
| Rajasthan Royals 149/9 (20 overs) | v | Royal Challengers Bangalore 153/3 (17.1 overs) |
| Evin Lewis 58 (37) Harshal Patel 3/34 (4 overs) | | Glenn Maxwell 50* (30) Mustafizur Rahman 2/20 (3 overs) |
* Royal Challengers Bangalore won by 7 wickets Dubai International Cricket Stadium, Dubai Umpires: K. N. Ananthapadmanabhan (Ind) and Anil Dandekar (Ind) Player of the match: Yuzvendra Chahal (Royal Challengers Bangalore)
* Royal Challengers Bangalore won the toss and elected to field.
* Match 47 2 October 2021 19:30 (N) Scorecard
| Chennai Super Kings 189/4 (20 overs) | v | Rajasthan Royals 190/3 (17.3 overs) |
| Ruturaj Gaikwad 101* (60) Rahul Tewatia 3/39 (4 overs) | | Shivam Dube 64* (42) Shardul Thakur 2/30 (4 overs) |
* Rajasthan Royals won by 7 wickets Sheikh Zayed Cricket Stadium, Abu Dhabi Umpires: Chris Gaffaney (NZ) and Virender Sharma (Ind) Player of the match: Ruturaj Gaikwad (Chennai Super Kings)
* Rajasthan Royals won the toss and elected to field.
* Match 51 5 October 2021 19:30 (N) Scorecard
| Rajasthan Royals 90/9 (20 overs) | v | Mumbai Indians 94/2 (8.2 overs) |
| Evin Lewis 24 (19) Nathan Coulter-Nile 4/14 (4 overs) | | Ishan Kishan 50* (25) Mustafizur Rahman 1/32 (2.2 overs) |
* Mumbai Indians won by 8 wickets Sharjah Cricket Stadium, Sharjah Umpires: Anil Chaudhary (Ind) and Michael Gough (Eng) Player of the match: Nathan Coulter-Nile (Mumbai Indians)
* Mumbai Indians won the toss and elected to field.
* Kuldip Yadav (Rajasthan Royals) made his T20 debut.
* Match 54 7 October 2021 19:30 (N) Scorecard
| Kolkata Knight Riders 171/4 (20 overs) | v | Rajasthan Royals 85 (16.1 overs) |
| Shubman Gill 56 (44) Rahul Tewatia 1/11 (1 over) | | Rahul Tewatia 44 (36) Shivam Mavi 4/21 (3.1 overs) |
* Kolkata Knight Riders won by 86 runs Sharjah Cricket Stadium, Sharjah Umpires: Michael Gough (Eng) and Saiyed Khalid (Ind) Player of the match: Shivam Mavi (Kolkata Knight Riders)
* Rajasthan Royals won the toss and elected to field.
* Punjab Kings and 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 | Sanju Samson | 7 | 7 | 1 | 277 | 119 | 46.16 | 190 | 145.78 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 26 | 11 |
| 2 | Jos Buttler | 7 | 7 | 0 | 254 | 124 | 36.28 | 166 | 153.01 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 27 | 13 |
| 3 | Shivam Dube | 6 | 6 | 0 | 145 | 46 | 24.16 | 123 | 117.88 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 5 |
| 4 | David Miller | 6 | 6 | 3 | 102 | 62 | 34.00 | 80 | 127.50 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 11 | 3 |
| 5 | Rahul Tewatia | 7 | 5 | 0 | 86 | 40 | 17.20 | 67 | 128.35 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 4 |
* Source: Cricinfo

### Most Wickets

| No. | Name | Match | Inns | Overs | Maidens | Runs | Wickets | BBI | Ave. | Eco. | SR | 4 | 5 |
| 1 | Chris Morris | 11 | 11 | 41.0 | 0 | 376 | 15 | 4/23 | 25.06 | 9.17 | 16.4 | 1 | 0 |
| 2 | Mustafizur Rahman | 14 | 14 | 51.1 | 0 | 436 | 14 | 3/20 | 31.14 | 8.41 | 22.21 | 0 | 0 |
| 2 | Chetan Sakariya | 14 | 14 | 52.0 | 0 | 426 | 14 | 3/31 | 30.42 | 8.19 | 22.28 | 0 | 0 |
| 4 | Rahul Tewatia | 14 | 13 | 37.0 | 0 | 340 | 8 | 3/39 | 42.50 | 9.18 | 27.75 | 0 | 0 |
| 5 | Jaydev Unadkat | 6 | 6 | 22.0 | 0 | 168 | 4 | 3/15 | 42.00 | 7.63 | 33.00 | 0 | 0 |
* Source: Cricinfo

## Player of the match awards

| No. | Date | Player | Opponent | Result | Contribution |
| 1 | 12 April 2021 | Sanju Samson | Punjab Kings | Lost by 4 runs | 119 (63) |
| 2 | 15 April 2021 | Jaydev Unadkat | Delhi Capitals | Won by 3 wickets | 11* (7) & 3/15 (4 overs) |
| 3 | 24 April 2021 | Chris Morris | Kolkata Knight Riders | Won by 6 wickets | 4/23 (4 overs) |
| 4 | 2 May 2021 | Jos Buttler | Sunrisers Hyderabad | Won by 55 runs | 124 (64) |