IPL titles: 1
How did Rajasthan Royals fare in IPL 2023?
A season after making their second IPL final, Rajasthan Royals narrowly missed out on the IPL playoffs in 2023, finishing in fifth place with 14 points. RR began IPL 2023 with four wins out of their first five games, with their only loss coming to Punjab Kings (PBKS) during that time.
However, then began RR’s inconsistency. Sanju Samson and Jos Buttler, RR’s formidable batting duo, failed to fire consistently and lacked form. Defats against Lucknow Super Giants and Royal Challengers Bangalore did not help their case either, and although they defeated Chennai Super Kings (CSK) by 32 runs in Jaipur, RR never really got wins on the trot like they did at the start of the season.
RR were eliminated from IPL 2023 after Mumbai Indians defeated Sunrisers Hyderabad in late May. That meant RR had no further chance if making it to the top four.
Yashasvi Jaiswal, though was RR’s shining star with 625 runs from 14 matches at a strike rate of 163.61.
Win percentage: 49.02 %.
Rajasthan Royals, the 2008 champions, have played 206 matches in the IPL. They have won 101 matches and lost 100 games. Two of those matches have ended up as no-results, and as many matches have been won by RR via Super Over. RR have also lost one match via Super Over, that being a defeat to Punjab Kings (then Kings XI Punjab) in 2015.
Highest run-getter: Sanju Samson (3211 runs)
In IPL 2023, Sanju Samson, RR’s current skipper, overtook Ajinkya Rahane to become the team’s highest run getter. Samson has scored 3211 runs from 124 matches at a strike-rate of 139.48. This includes two centuries and 17 fifties. Rahane had scored 2810 runs during his stint at RR between 2011 and 2019.
Highest wicket-taker: Siddharth Trivedi (65 wickets)
Former pacer Siddharth Trivedi is RR’s all-time leading wicket-taker in the IPL, with 65 scalps from 75 matches at 29.29. Trivedi had been suspended for one year for not reporting approaches by a bookie during the IPL spot-fixing scandal in 2013.
Among current players, Yuzvendra Chahal has most wickets for RR with 48 scalps from 31 matches.
Highest individual score: Jos Buttler (132* vs SRH in 2021)
Jos Buttler’s 64-ball 124 is the highest individual score by a RR batter. That came against Sunrisers Hyderabad in 2021 in a winning cause. Buttler slammed 11 fours and eight sixes to help RR post 220/3. SRH were restricted to 165/8 in their reply.
Highest team score: 226/6 vs KXIP (2020)
Against Kings XI Punjab in IPL 2020, RR batters produced remarkable resilience to beat Kings XI Punjab by four wickets. A fifty from KL Rahul and a century from Mayank Agarwal had led Punjab to 223/2. In reply, Steve Smith (50), Sanju Samson (85) and Rahul Tewatia (53) all scored half-centuries to complete RR’s run chase with three balls to spare.
Favourite opponent: Punjab Kings
Rajasthan Royals have played 26 matches against Punjab Kings and won 15 of these matches. They have lost just 11 matches including a Super Over defeat in 2015.
Bogey team: Chennai Super Kings
Rajasthan Royals don’t have a good record against five-time champions Chennai Super Kings. They have played 28 matches against each other, and the Royals have won just 13 matches, while losing 15.
Purchases, retentions and full squad
Players bought by RR at IPL 2024 Auction: Rovman Powell (Rs 7.4 crore), Shubham Dubey (Rs 5.8 crore), Tom Kohler-Cadmore (Rs 40 lakh), Abid Mushtaq (Rs 20 lakh), Nandre Burger (Rs 50 lakh)
Rajasthan Royals retained players: Sanju Samson, Ravichandran Ashwin, Yuzvendra Chahal, Prasidh Krishna, Navdeep Saini, Avesh Khan (Traded from LSG), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Kuldeep Sen, Sandeep Sharma, Riyan Parag, Dhruv Jurel, Kunal Singh Rathore, Jos Buttler, Trent Boult, Adam Zampa, Shimron Hetmyer, Donovan Ferreira
RR full squad: Sanju Samson, Ravichandran Ashwin, Yuzvendra Chahal, Prasidh Krishna, Navdeep Saini, Avesh Khan (Traded from LSG), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Kuldeep Sen, Sandeep Sharma, Riyan Parag, Dhruv Jurel, Kunal Singh Rathore, Jos Buttler, Trent Boult, Adam Zampa, Shimron Hetmyer, Donovan Ferreira, Rovman Powell, Shubham Dubey, Tom Kohler-Cadmore, Abid Mushtaq, Nandre Burger
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