The Indian Premier League has grown to be one of the most popular leagues in the world since its inaugural edition in 2008. While there have been a couple of dominant teams that have emerged over the years, Rajasthan Royals will always carry the crown of being the first champions of the IPL.
The Royals have participated in 15 editions of the IPL, reaching the playoffs six times, including their maiden title in 2008 and an appearance in the final in IPL 2022. Here’s the full history of Rajasthan Royals’ performance and results in the IPL over the years.
Rajasthan Royals in IPL 2008: Champions
The first edition of the IPL in 2008 saw eight teams play a total of 14 matches in the league stage. Rajasthan Royals, led by captain Shane Warne, came back strongly after their loss in the first league match to Delhi Daredevils to win 11 out of the next 12 games.
Rajasthan, who finished as group toppers, defeated Delhi by 105 runs in the first semi-finals. Chennai Super Kings got the better of Kings XI Punjab to set up a title clash with the Royals.
In a close encounter, the Royals trumped CSK by three wickets to be crowned as champions of IPL 2008. Yusuf Pathan was declared Player of the Match in the final and Shane Watson collected the Player of the Series award for his all-round performance.
Sohail Tanvir, with 22 wickets finished with the Purple Cap for the top-wicket taker in the edition, followed closely by Shane Warne.
Rajasthan Royals in IPL 2009: Sixth
Defending champions Rajasthan Royals finished sixth in IPL 2009 with 13 points from 14 matches including six wins and fell agonisingly short of qualifying for the play-offs, missing fourth place by a single point.
Ravindra Jadeja was the Royals’ top scorer in that season with 295 runs and Munaf Patel was the highest wicket-taker for the Royals with 16 wickets.
Rajasthan Royals in IPL 2010: Seventh
In IPL 2010, Rajasthan Royals won six matches and lost eight to finish seventh in the table, this time missing qualification by two points.
Naman Ojha was the Royals’ top scorer with 377 runs. Siddharth Trivedi and skipper Shane Warne were the top wicket-takers for Rajasthan Royals with 11 wickets each.
Rajasthan Royals in IPL 2011: Sixth
In Shane Warne’s final IPL, Rajasthan Royals finished sixth among 10 teams with the arrival of Kochi Tuskers Kerala and Pune Warriors in the league. Out of 14 matches, the Royals won six and lost seven.
Rahul Dravid was the Royals’ best batter with 343 runs while Shane Warne bid adieu to the IPL as their best bowler in that season with 13 wickets.
Rajasthan Royals in IPL 2012: Seventh
For IPL 2012, Rahul Dravid was named as the new Rajasthan Royals captain for the fifth edition of the league. The Royals finished seventh in the league stage with seven wins and nine losses, missing the cut by three points.
Ajinkya Rahane and Rahul Dravid had a good season for the Royals with the bat scoring 560 and 462 runs, respectively. Siddarth Trivedi once again topped the Rajasthan Royals’ bowling charts with 13 wickets.
Rajasthan Royals in IPL 2013: Third
Rajasthan Royals made their first knock-out appearance under Rahul Dravid, after the title-winning inaugural edition in 2008, finishing third in the table with 10 wins and six losses. They won the eliminator contest against Sunrisers Hyderabad by four wickets but fell short in the second qualifier against Mumbai Indians, who went on to win the title in 2013.
Nevertheless, it was a great season for the Royals. Shane Watson, Ajinkya Rahane and Rahul Dravid finished amongst the top 10 run-getters in the tournament. James Faulkner with 28 wickets finished second in the bowlers’ list behind CSK’s Dwayne Bravo’s tally of 32, which is the joint-highest in a single edition of the IPL.
Rajasthan Royals in IPL 2014: Fifth
Shane Watson took over as Rajasthan Royals captain in IPL 2014 after Rahul Dravid retired. The Royals missed out on qualification by a whisker with their last league match against Mumbai Indians being a virtual knock-out.
MI won the match, levelled Royals on points, but qualified with the help of a superior net run rate. Rajasthan Royals finished the season at 14 points with seven wins and seven losses.
Ajinkya Rahane and Sanju Samson were joint top scorers for the Royals with 339 runs. Leg-spinner Pravin Tambe, who made his IPL debut for Rajasthan Royals in 2013 at the age of 41, was their leading wicket-taker with 15 scalps.
Rajasthan Royals in IPL 2015: Fourth
Rajasthan Royals made their third IPL playoffs in 2015, under Shane Watson, when they finished fourth in the table with 16 points including seven wins and five losses. Royals lost to Royal Challengers Bangalore by 71 runs in the eliminator.
Ajinkya Rahane once again finished as the Royals’ top-scorer and joint-second overall with 540 runs. Dhawal Kulkarni and Chris Morris finished with 13 wickets apiece.
Rajasthan Royals in IPL 2018: Fourth
With Ajinkya Rahane at the helm, Rajasthan Royals qualified for the play-offs in IPL 2018, finishing fourth with 14 points from seven wins and losses. Royals lost to Kolkata Knight Riders by 25 runs in the eliminator.
Jos Buttler with 548 runs was the top-scorer for the Royals in IPL 2018. Sanju Samson had 441 runs whereas Rahane finished with 370 runs. Jofra Archer with 15 wickets was Royals’ best bowler in this edition.
Rajasthan Royals in IPL 2019: Seventh
Ajinkya Rahane and Steve Smith led Rajasthan Royals in the 12th edition of the IPL but were unlucky to miss out on the play-off spot by just one point. They finished seventh with 11 points from five wins and eight losses.
Rahane, yet again was on top of the Royals’ run-scorers list with 393 runs followed by Sanju Samson with 342 runs. Leg spinner Shreyas Gopal finished fourth in the overall list of wicket-takers with 20 dismissals.
Rajasthan Royals in IPL 2020: Eighth
Rajasthan Royals finished eighth in IPL 2020 which was Steve Smith’s first full season as captain. The Royals won six matches and lost eight collecting 12 points and missing qualification by just two points.
Sanju Samson, Jos Buttler and Steve Smith all scored more than 300 runs while Jofra Archer finished sixth in that edition of the IPL with 20 wickets.
Rajasthan Royals in IPL 2021: Seventh
Sanju Samson was appointed as captain of Rajasthan Royals for IPL 2021. The team finished seventh with 10 points from five wins and nine losses.
For the Royals, captain Sanju Samson finished as their top run-getter, sixth overall, with 484 runs. Chris Morris picked up 15 wickets to be Royals’ top bowler.
Rajasthan Royals in IPL 2022: Second
Two new teams made their bow in IPL 2022, Gujarat Titans and Lucknow Super Giants. The Royals, under Sanju Samson, put in an excellent performance to finish second in the league table with 18 points from nine wins and five losses.
Rajasthan Royals defeated RCB by seven wickets in the second qualifier to move into their first final since IPL 2008, before losing to Gujarat Titans by seven wickets in the summit clash. Gujarat Titans, incidentally, became the first team after the Royals to win IPL in their first year of the tournament.
Jos Buttler looked in ominous form to top the batting charts with 863 runs and became the first the Royals’ player to win an Orange Cap, awarded for scoring the most runs in the tournament. His tally was the second-best in a single edition of IPL behind Virat Kohli’s 973 runs in IPL 2016, before Shubman Gill surpassed it in IPL 2023.
Yuzvendra Chahal was on top of the bowlers’ pile with 27 wickets and became the second Royals bowler after Sohail Tanvir to win the Purple Cap for most wickets. This was only the second instance after 2013, where both Orange Cap and Purple Cap were won by the same team. Gujarat Titans achieved the same feat in IPL 2023.
Rajasthan Royals in IPL 2023: Fifth
Rajasthan Royals finished fifth in IPL 2023 with 14 points, from seven wins and losses, missing the play-off spot by only two points.
Yashasvi Jaiswal scored 625 runs to be fifth among all batters in this edition, where Jos Buttler and Sanju Samson also crossed the 300-run mark. Among bowlers, Chahal once again shone with 21 wickets to be fifth on the overall list.
Rajasthan Royals in IPL 2024: Third
The Royals made their sixth playoffs in the IPL, finishing third in the IPL 2024 points table with 17 points from 14 matches, knitting together eight wins.
The Royals won their Eliminator contest against Royal Challengers Bengaluru by four wickets at Ahmedabad before losing to Sunrisers Hyderabad by 36 runs in the Qualifier 2 at Chennai.
Riyan Parag was the Royals' top-scorer in IPL 2024 amassing 573 runs from 14 innings, including four fifties, at an average of 52.09 and strike rate of 149.21. Skipper Sanju Samson also had a good season with the bat aggregating 531 runs from 15 visits to the crease, averaging 48.27 and striking at 153.46.
On the bowling front, Avesh Khan delivered for the Royals picking 19 wickets from 15 innings whereas Chahal finished just behind, with 18 scalps from 15 matches.
Rajasthan Royals in IPL: Results and final standings
Year | Played | Won | Loss | Tied | NR | Position |
2008* | 16 | 13 | 3 | 0 | 0 | Champions |
2009 | 14 | 6 | 7 | 0 | 1 | Sixth |
2010 | 14 | 6 | 8 | 0 | 0 | Seventh |
2011 | 14 | 6 | 7 | 0 | 1 | Sixth |
2012 | 16 | 7 | 9 | 0 | 0 | Seventh |
2013* | 18 | 11 | 7 | 0 | 0 | Third |
2014 | 14 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 0 | Fifth |
2015* | 15 | 7 | 6 | 0 | 2 | Fourth |
2018* | 15 | 7 | 8 | 0 | 0 | Fourth |
2019 | 14 | 5 | 8 | 0 | 1 | Seventh |
2020 | 14 | 6 | 8 | 0 | 0 | Eighth |
2021 | 14 | 5 | 9 | 0 | 0 | Seventh |
2022* | 17 | 10 | 7 | 0 | 0 | Second |
2023 | 14 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 0 | Fifth |
2024* | 16 | 9 | 6 | 0 | 1 | Third |
*includes knock-out matches also
