All IPL Captains of Rajasthan Royals (RR)

Rajasthan Royals (RR), the inaugural IPL champions, have been consistent with their captaincy choices. This article talks about all the IPL Captains of RR.

All IPL Captains of Rajasthan Royals (RR)

Shane Warne (2008-2011)

Former Australian leg spinner Shane Warne led the Rajasthan Royals in the inaugural season in 2008. RR had a bunch of youngsters in the teams with the likes of Yusuf Pathan and Ravindra Jadeja.

This inexperienced team stunned everyone and went on to win the first-ever IPL edition after defeating CSK in the final, which saw a close finish with the Shane Warne-led side winning the game in the last over.

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However, Warne was not able to replicate his magic as the captain of the Rajasthan Royals in the next three seasons, as the team failed to qualify for the knockouts and the playoffs respectively

Shane Watson (2008-2015)

Shane Watson, although he wasn't made the full-time captain of the team during his tenure at RR, did fill in for the respective captains in various seasons. Watson led Rajasthan in a total of 21 games and ended up winning 11 of those.

Rahul Dravid (2012-2013)

Former Indian captain Rahul Dravid succeeded Shane Warne as the Rajasthan Royals' captain after the Australian bowler retired from the IPL in 2011 and did a fine job during his stint as the captain of RR.

Dravid guided the team to the playoffs in 2013 before hanging up his boots in the same year.

Steve Smith (2014-2020)

Steve Smith was one of the players who was retained by RR for the longest time before they released him after the 2020 season of the league

One of the things that RR have been good at over the years has been the captaincy transition, something which many other IPL struggle to execute perfectly.

Smith took over the reins of captaincy from Rahul Dravid in 2014 and led the team in three IPL seasons which either he or the team was a part of.

Smith led RR in 27 IPL games and was successful in winning 15, whereas the right-hander lost 11 games, while one match was washed out

Ajinkya Rahane (2018-2019)

Rahane was appointed as the captain of RR at the last minute in 2018, as Smith wasn't a part of the tournament due to his involvement in some on-field activities.

Rahane did exceedingly well by guiding the team into the playoffs after many experts did not give RR much of a chance to do so.

Sanju Samson (2021-2025)

Samson's appointment as the captain of RR in 2021 was on expected lines, as the team had not retained Steve Smith and was in search of a captain.

Samson has been able to guide the team into the playoffs a couple of times, which makes for a pretty decent record as a captain.

Riyan Parag (2025)

RR has invested a lot in Riyan Parag since he was picked up by them at the age of 17, and there was no surprise when he led the team in the absence of Sanju Samson for the majority of the season gone by.

Also Read: All IPL Captains of Mumbai Indians (MI)