# 2018 Rajasthan Royals season

The 2018 season was the 9th season for the Indian Premier League franchise Rajasthan Royals.

## Offseason
### Support staff changes

* In January 2018, former Royals team director Zubin Bharucha was appointed as the team's head of cricket
* In February 2018, former Royals captain Shane Warne was named team mentor
* In February 2018, Sairaj Bahutule was appointed spin bowling coach
* In March 2018, Amol Muzumdar and Dishant Yagnik were announced to be the team's batting coach and fielding coach respectively

### Others

In January 2018, the BCCI cleared Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur to host the home matches of the Royals. The Royals had last played at Jaipur in 2013, after which they had to shift their base to Ahmedabad and Mumbai in 2014 and 2015 due to the BCCI's ban on the Rajasthan Cricket Association.
In March 2018, in an event in Jaipur, the franchise unveiled the new team anthem "Phir Halla Bol" by Ila Arun.

## Squad

* Players with international caps are listed in bold.
| No. | Name | Nationality | Birth date | Batting style | Bowling style | Year signed | Salary | Notes |
| Batsmen |||||||||
| 27 | Ajinkya Rahane | India | (1988-06-05) 5 June 1988 (age 36) | Right-handed | Right-arm medium | 2018 | ₹4 crore (US$479,000) | Captain |
| 52 | Rahul Tripathi | India | (1991-03-02) 2 March 1991 (age 33) | Right-handed | Right-arm medium | 2018 | ₹3.4 crore (US$407,000) | |
| — | 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 |
| — | Prashant Chopra | India | (1992-10-07) 7 October 1992 (age 32) | Right-handed | Right-arm leg break | 2018 | ₹20 lakh (US$24,000) | |
| — | Aryaman Birla | India | (1997-07-09) 9 July 1997 (age 27) | Left-handed | Slow left-arm orthodox | 2018 | ₹30 lakh (US$36,000) | |
| All-rounders |||||||||
| 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) | |
| 18 | Ankit Sharma | India | (1991-04-20) 20 April 1991 (age 33) | Left-handed | Slow left-arm orthodox | 2018 | ₹20 lakh (US$24,000) | |
| 21 | D'Arcy Short | Australia | (1990-08-09) 9 August 1990 (age 34) | Left-handed | Slow left-arm orthodox | 2018 | ₹4 crore (US$479,000) | Overseas |
| 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) | |
| — | Jatin Saxena | India | (1982-08-04) 4 August 1982 (age 42) | Right-handed | Right-arm leg break | 2018 | ₹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) | |
| 45 | Heinrich Klaasen | South Africa | (1991-07-30) 30 July 1991 (age 33) | Right-handed | | 2018 | ₹50 lakh (US$60,000) | Overseas |
| 63 | Jos Buttler | England | (1990-09-08) 8 September 1990 (age 34) | Right-handed | | 2018 | ₹4.4 crore (US$527,000) | Overseas |
| Bowlers |||||||||
| 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 |
| 44 | Anureet Singh | India | (1988-03-02) 2 March 1988 (age 36) | Right-handed | Right-arm medium | 2018 | ₹30 lakh (US$36,000) | |
| 56 | Ben Laughlin | Australia | (1982-10-03) 3 October 1982 (age 42) | Right-handed | Right-arm fast-medium | 2018 | ₹50 lakh (US$60,000) | 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 | Jaydev Unadkat | India | (1991-10-18) 18 October 1991 (age 32) | Right-handed | Left-arm medium | 2018 | ₹11.5 crore (US$1.4 million) | |
| 91 | Dhawal Kulkarni | India | (1988-12-10) 10 December 1988 (age 35) | Right-handed | Right-arm medium | 2018 | ₹75 lakh (US$90,000) | |
| — | Dushmantha Chameera | Sri Lanka | (1992-01-11) 11 January 1992 (age 32) | Right-handed | Right-arm fast | 2018 | ₹50 lakh (US$60,000) | Overseas |
| — | Zahir Khan Pakteen | Afghanistan | (1998-12-20) 20 December 1998 (age 25) | Left-handed | Slow left-arm wrist-spin | 2018 | ₹60 lakh (US$72,000) | Overseas |
| — | Sudhesan Midhun | India | (1994-10-07) 7 October 1994 (age 30) | Right-handed | Right-arm leg break | 2018 | ₹20 lakh (US$24,000) | |

## Season
### League table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | L | NR | Pts | NRR | |
| 1 | Chennai Super Kings (C) | 14 | 9 | 5 | 0 | 18 | 0.253 | Advanced to Qualifier 1 |
| 2 | Sunrisers Hyderabad (2) | 14 | 9 | 5 | 0 | 18 | 0.284 | Advanced to Qualifier 1 |
| 3 | Kolkata Knight Riders (3) | 14 | 8 | 6 | 0 | 16 | −0.070 | Advanced to the Eliminator |
| 4 | Rajasthan Royals (4) | 14 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 14 | −0.250 | Advanced to the Eliminator |
| 5 | Mumbai Indians | 14 | 6 | 8 | 0 | 12 | 0.317 | |
| 6 | Royal Challengers Bangalore | 14 | 6 | 8 | 0 | 12 | 0.129 | |
| 7 | Kings XI Punjab | 14 | 6 | 8 | 0 | 12 | −0.502 | |
| 8 | Delhi Daredevils | 14 | 5 | 9 | 0 | 10 | −0.222 | |

### Results
#### League matches

* 9 April 20:00 (D/N) Scorecard
| Rajasthan Royals 125/9 (20 overs) | v | Sunrisers Hyderabad (H) 127/1 (15.5 overs) |
| Sanju Samson 49 (42) Siddarth Kaul 2/17 (4 overs) | | Shikhar Dhawan 78* (57) Jaydev Unadkat 1/28 (3 overs) |
* Sunrisers Hyderabad won by 9 wickets Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium, Hyderabad Umpires: Vineet Kulkarni (India) and Nigel Llong (England) Player of the match: Shikhar Dhawan (Sunrisers Hyderabad)
* Sunrisers Hyderabad won the toss and elected to field.
* 11 April 20:00 (D/N) Scorecard
| (H) Rajasthan Royals 153/5 (17.5 overs) | v | Delhi Daredevils 60/4 (6 overs) |
| Ajinkya Rahane 45 (40) Shahbaz Nadeem 2/34 (4 overs) | | Rishabh Pant 20 (14) Ben Laughlin 2/20 (2 overs) |
* Rajasthan Royals won by 10 runs (DLS method) Sawai Mansingh Stadium, Jaipur Umpires: K. N. Ananthapadmanabhan (India) and Nitin Menon (India) Player of the match: Sanju Samson (Rajasthan Royals)
* Delhi Daredevils won the toss and elected to field.
* Rain during play ended the Rajasthan Royals innings at 17.5 overs and Delhi Daredevils were set a target of 71 runs from 6 overs.
* 15 April 16:00 (D/N) Scorecard
| Rajasthan Royals 217/4 (20 overs) | v | Royal Challengers Bangalore (H) 198/6 (20 overs) |
| Sanju Samson 92* (45) Yuzvendra Chahal 2/22 (4 overs) | | Virat Kohli 57 (30) Shreyas Gopal 2/22 (4 overs) |
* Rajasthan Royals won by 19 runs M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore Umpires: Sundaram Ravi (India) and Chettithody Shamshuddin (India) Player of the match: Sanju Samson (Rajasthan Royals)
* Royal Challengers Bangalore won the toss and elected to field.
* 18 April 20:00 (D/N) Scorecard
| (H) Rajasthan Royals 160/8 (20 overs) | v | Kolkata Knight Riders 163/3 (18.5 overs) |
| D'Arcy Short 44 (43) Nitish Rana 2/11 (2 overs) | | Robin Uthappa 48 (36) Krishnappa Gowtham 2/23 (4 overs) |
* Kolkata Knight Riders won by 7 wickets Sawai Mansingh Stadium, Jaipur Umpires: Abhijit Deshmukh (India) and Sundaram Ravi (India) Player of the match: Nitish Rana (Kolkata Knight Riders)
* Kolkata Knight Riders won the toss and elected to field.
* 20 April 20:00 (D/N) Scorecard
| (H) Chennai Super Kings 204/5 (20 overs) | v | Rajasthan Royals 140 (18.3 overs) |
| Shane Watson 106 (57) Shreyas Gopal 3/20 (4 overs) | | Ben Stokes 45 (37) Karn Sharma 2/13 (1.3 overs) |
* Chennai Super Kings won by 64 runs Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium, Pune Umpires: K. N. Ananthapadmanabhan (India) and Nitin Menon (India) Player of the match: Shane Watson (Chennai Super Kings)
* Rajasthan Royals won the toss and elected to field.
* 22 April 20:00 (D/N) Scorecard
| Mumbai Indians 167/7 (20 overs) | v | Rajasthan Royals (H) 168/7 (19.4 overs) |
| Suryakumar Yadav 72 (47) Jofra Archer 3/23 (4 overs) | | Sanju Samson 52 (39) Hardik Pandya 2/25 (2.4 overs) |
* Rajasthan Royals won by 3 wickets Sawai Mansingh Stadium, Jaipur Umpires: K. N. Ananthapadmanabhan (India) and Rod Tucker (Australia) Player of the match: Jofra Archer (Rajasthan Royals)
* Mumbai Indians won the toss and elected to bat.
* 29 April 16:00 (D/N) Scorecard
| Sunrisers Hyderabad 151/7 (20 overs) | v | Rajasthan Royals (H) 140/6 (20 overs) |
| Kane Williamson 63 (43) Jofra Archer 3/26 (4 overs) | | Ajinkya Rahane 65* (53) Siddarth Kaul 2/23 (4 overs) |
* Sunrisers Hyderabad won by 11 runs Sawai Mansingh Stadium, Jaipur Umpires: Nand Kishore (India) and Bruce Oxenford (Australia) Player of the match: Kane Williamson (Sunrisers Hyderabad)
* Sunrisers Hyderabad won the toss and elected to bat.
* 2 May 20:00 (D/N) Scorecard
| (H) Delhi Daredevils 196/6 (17.1 overs) | v | Rajasthan Royals 146/5 (12 overs) |
| Rishabh Pant 69 (29) Jaydev Unadkat 3/46 (4 overs) | | Jos Buttler 67 (26) Trent Boult 2/26 (3 overs) |
* Delhi Daredevils won by 4 runs (DLS method) Feroz Shah Kotla, Delhi Umpires: C. K. Nandan (India) and Virender Sharma (India) Player of the match: Rishabh Pant (Delhi Daredevils)
* Rajasthan Royals won the toss and elected to field.
* Rain before start of play reduced the match to 18 overs per side.
* Rain during play ended the Delhi Daredevils innings at 17.1 overs and Rajasthan Royals were set a target of 151 runs from 12 overs.
* 6 May 20:00 (D/N) Scorecard
| Rajasthan Royals 152/9 (20 overs) | v | Kings XI Punjab (H) 155/4 (18.4 overs) |
| Jos Buttler 51 (39) Mujeeb Ur Rahman 3/27 (4 overs) | | K. L. Rahul 84* (54) Krishnappa Gowtham 1/18 (3 overs) |
* Kings XI Punjab won by 6 wickets Holkar Cricket Stadium, Indore Umpires: Sundaram Ravi (India) and Chettithody Shamshuddin (India) Player of the match: Mujeeb Ur Rahman (Kings XI Punjab)
* Kings XI Punjab won the toss and elected to field.
* 8 May 20:00 (D/N) Scorecard
| (H) Rajasthan Royals 158/8 (20 overs) | v | Kings XI Punjab 143/7 (20 overs) |
| Jos Buttler 82 (58) Andrew Tye 4/34 (4 overs) | | K. L. Rahul 95* (70) Krishnappa Gowtham 2/12 (3 overs) |
* Rajasthan Royals won by 15 runs Sawai Mansingh Stadium, Jaipur Umpires: Marais Erasmus (South Africa) and Nitin Menon (India) Player of the match: Jos Buttler (Rajasthan Royals)
* Rajasthan Royals won the toss and elected to bat.
* 11 May 20:00 (D/N) Scorecard
| Chennai Super Kings 176/4 (20 overs) | v | Rajasthan Royals (H) 177/6 (19.5 overs) |
| Suresh Raina 52 (35) Jofra Archer 2/42 (4 overs) | | Jos Buttler 95* (60) Shardul Thakur 1/22 (4 overs) |
* Rajasthan Royals won by 4 wickets Sawai Mansingh Stadium, Jaipur Umpires: Yeshwant Barde (India) and Marais Erasmus (South Africa) Player of the match: Jos Buttler (Rajasthan Royals)
* Chennai Super Kings won the toss and elected to bat.
* 13 May 20:00 (D/N) Scorecard
| (H) Mumbai Indians 168/6 (20 overs) | v | Rajasthan Royals 171/3 (18 overs) |
| Evin Lewis 60 (42) Jofra Archer 2/16 (4 overs) | | Jos Buttler 94* (53) Hardik Pandya 2/52 (4 overs) |
* Rajasthan Royals won by 7 wickets Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai Umpires: Nitin Menon (India) and Sundaram Ravi (India) Player of the match: Jos Buttler (Rajasthan Royals)
* Rajasthan Royals won the toss and elected to field.
* 15 May 20:00 (D/N) Scorecard
| Rajasthan Royals 142 (19 overs) | v | Kolkata Knight Riders (H) 145/4 (18 overs) |
| Jos Buttler 39 (22) Kuldeep Yadav 4/20 (4 overs) | | Chris Lynn 45 (42) Ben Stokes 3/15 (4 overs) |
* Kolkata Knight Riders won by 6 wickets Eden Gardens, Kolkata Umpires: Anil Chaudhary (India) and Kumar Dharmasena (Sri Lanka) Player of the match: Kuldeep Yadav (Kolkata Knight Riders)
* Kolkata Knight Riders won the toss and elected to field.
* 19 May 16:00 (D/N) Scorecard
| (H) Rajasthan Royals 164/5 (20 overs) | v | Royal Challengers Bangalore 134 (19.2 overs) |
| Rahul Tripathi 80* (58) Umesh Yadav 3/25 (4 overs) | | AB de Villiers 53 (35) Shreyas Gopal 4/16 (4 overs) |
* Rajasthan Royals won by 30 runs Sawai Mansingh Stadium, Jaipur Umpires: Bruce Oxenford (Australia) and Virender Sharma (India) Player of the match: Shreyas Gopal (Rajasthan Royals)
* Rajasthan Royals won the toss and elected to bat.
* Royal Challengers Bangalore were eliminated as a result of this match.