Paddy Upton was named the Royals coach ahead of 2019 Indian Premier League. Steve Smith made a comeback to the IPL on 25 March 2019 after he was banned by BCCI to participate in the 2018 season due to Australian ball-tampering controversy. Ajinkya Rahane retained his captaincy at the start of the season, however, on 20 April 2019 Steve Smith replaced Ajinkya Rahane as captain of Rajasthan Royals after a string of poor results.