# 2019 Rajasthan Royals season

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

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. The Royals thus had a purse of ₹18.3 crore and nine slots remaining in their roster ahead of the player auction.
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. They filled their quota of 25 players with 17 Indian and 8 overseas players.

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

### 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." 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." 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.

## 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$479,000) | 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$36,000) | |
| 11 | Prashant Chopra | India | (1992-10-07) 7 October 1992 (age 32) | Right-handed | Right-arm leg break | 2018 | ₹20 lakh (US$24,000) | |
| 18 | Manan Vohra | India | (1993-07-18) 18 July 1993 (age 31) | Right-handed | Right-arm medium | 2019 | ₹20 lakh (US$24,000) | |
| 27 | Liam Livingstone | England | (1993-08-04) 4 August 1993 (age 31) | Left-handed | Right-arm leg break | 2019 | ₹50 lakh (US$60,000) | Overseas |
| 43 | Shashank Singh | India | (1991-11-21) 21 November 1991 (age 32) | Right-handed | Right-arm off break | 2019 | ₹20 lakh (US$24,000) | |
| 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$407,000) | |
| 70 | Ashton Turner | Australia | (1993-01-25) 25 January 1993 (age 31) | Right-handed | Right-arm off break | 2019 | ₹50 lakh (US$60,000) | Overseas |
| All-rounders |||||||||
| 5 | Riyan Parag | India | (2001-11-10) 10 November 2001 (age 22) | Right-handed | Right-arm off break | 2019 | ₹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) | |
| 7 | Krishnappa Gowtham | India | (1988-10-20) 20 October 1988 (age 35) | Right-handed | Right-arm off break | 2018 | ₹6.2 crore (US$743,000) | |
| 37 | Shreyas Gopal | India | (1993-09-04) 4 September 1993 (age 31) | Right-handed | Right-arm leg break | 2018 | ₹20 lakh (US$24,000) | |
| 55 | Ben Stokes | England | (1991-06-04) 4 June 1991 (age 33) | Left-handed | Right-arm fast-medium | 2018 | ₹12.5 crore (US$1.5 million) | Overseas |
| 84 | Stuart Binny | India | (1984-06-03) 3 June 1984 (age 40) | Right-handed | Right-arm medium | 2018 | ₹50 lakh (US$60,000) | |
| 700 | Shubham Ranjane | India | (1994-03-26) 26 March 1994 (age 30) | Right-handed | Right-arm medium | 2019 | ₹20 lakh (US$24,000) | |
| Wicket-keepers |||||||||
| 8 | Sanju Samson | India | (1994-11-11) 11 November 1994 (age 29) | Right-handed | | 2018 | ₹8 crore (US$958,551.30) | |
| 63 | Jos Buttler | England | (1990-09-08) 8 September 1990 (age 34) | Right-handed | | 2018 | ₹4.4 crore (US$527,000) | 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$132,000) | Overseas |
| 19 | Sudhesan Midhun | India | (1994-10-07) 7 October 1994 (age 30) | Right-handed | Right-arm leg break | 2018 | ₹20 lakh (US$24,000) | |
| 22 | Jofra Archer | England | (1995-04-01) 1 April 1995 (age 29) | Right-handed | Right-arm fast-medium | 2018 | ₹7.2 crore (US$862,696.20) | Overseas |
| 61 | Ish Sodhi | New Zealand | (1992-10-31) 31 October 1992 (age 31) | Right-handed | Right-arm leg break | 2018 | ₹50 lakh (US$60,000) | Overseas |
| 77 | Varun Aaron | India | (1989-10-29) 29 October 1989 (age 34) | Right-handed | Right-arm fast | 2019 | ₹2.4 crore (US$288,000) | |
| 95 | Dhawal Kulkarni | India | (1988-12-10) 10 December 1988 (age 35) | Right-handed | Right-arm medium | 2018 | ₹75 lakh (US$90,000) | |
| 99 | Jaydev Unadkat | India | (1991-10-18) 18 October 1991 (age 32) | Right-handed | Left-arm medium | 2019 | ₹8.4 crore (US$1.0 million) | |

## 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

## Season
### League table

| Pos | Teamvte | 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 | Advanced to Qualifier 1 |
| 3 | Delhi Capitals | 14 | 9 | 5 | 0 | 18 | 0.044 | Advanced to the Eliminator |
| 4 | Sunrisers Hyderabad | 14 | 6 | 8 | 0 | 12 | 0.577 | Advanced to the Eliminator |
| 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 | |

### Match results
#### League stage

* 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.
* 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.
* 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.
* 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.
* 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.
* 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.
* 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.
* 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.
* 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.
* 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.
* 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.
* 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.
* 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.
* 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

### 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

## Player of the match awards

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