Rajasthan Royals made history when they clinched the title in the inaugural season of the Indian Premier League in 2008. Despite not having big names in the team, RR made sure that they will be scripting the history. However, after that, it took them the next 14 seasons to play their next IPL final, which they played in 2022.
So far, a total of six players have led the inaugural season of the IPL. There are three Australians and three Indians among them. However, Shane Warne is the most successful leader for the franchise in the league. Meanwhile, Sanju Samson is the current captain, who got the job in the 2021 season and led RR to the 2022 final.
List of Captains for Rajasthan Royals
| Captain | Span | Mts | Won | Lost | Tied | NR | % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shane Warne | 2008-2011 | 56 | 31 | 24 | 1 | 0 | 56.25 |
| Shane Watson | 2008-2015 | 21 | 7 | 11 | 2 | 1 | 40.00 |
| Rahul Dravid | 2012-2013 | 40 | 23 | 17 | 0 | 0 | 57.50 |
| Steve Smith | 2014-2020 | 27 | 15 | 11 | 0 | 1 | 57.69 |
| Ajinkya Rahane | 2018-2019 | 24 | 9 | 15 | 0 | 0 | 37.50 |
| Sanjui Samson* | 2021-2022 | 31 | 15 | 16 | 0 | 0 | 48.38 |
3. Rahul Dravid (IPL 2012 and 2013 as captain)
Former Indian skipper Rahul Dravid makes his debut in the IPL with Royal Challengers Bangalore between 2008 to 2010. Then, he joined RR in 2011 and played until 2013. He became only the second player to lead the franchise after Shane Warne. Dravid led RR in the 2012 and 2013 seasons, respectively. Under his leadership, RR made the playoffs in 2013.
He captained the team in a total of 40 games and has 23 wins, and 17 defeats under his captaincy. Apart from captaincy, he was also a consistent performer with the bat. Dravid played a total of 52 games for Rajasthan in the IPL and scored 1324 runs at an average of 27.02, including seven half-centuries and a best of 66.
2. Sanju Samson (IPL 2021 onwards)
Indian superstar Sanju Samson joined the RR set-up in 2013 for a price of INR 1 crore. Since then, he has played every season for Rajasthan, except for 2016 and 2017, when the team got suspended. Samson got the captaincy after his consistent performance with the bat, and the franchise released Steve Smith in the 2021 season, who led them in the 2019 and 2020 seasons, respectively.
The 2021 season wasn’t that great for RR under Samson, as they finished in 7th place out of 8 teams. However, Samson scored the most runs (484) for his team. But he led his team brilliantly in 2022 and reached the final for only the second time in the franchise’s history. Although RR lost to the Gujarat Titans in the final, it did pretty well overall. Samson has led in 31 games and has 15 wins and 16 defeats to his name.
1. Shane Warne (IPL 2008 to 2011 as RR Captain)
The only man to lead the Rajasthan franchise to glory in the Indian Premier League was legendary Australian spinner Shane Warne. He was their first captain and led a bunch of new faces to get the best result for this team. Since then, RR hasn’t won the IPL, but they are the first ever champions of this league.
Warne led RR for four consecutive seasons from 2008 to 2011. RR played a total of 56 games under his captaincy and won 31 of them, along with 24 losses and one game that ended in a tie. Warne played 55 games for Rajasthan and took 57 wickets at an economy rate of 7.27. The franchise is still searching for its second IPL title, and it will be interesting to see who can be their next leader to guide them to an IPL win.