2018 Rajasthan Royals season

The 2018 season was the 9th season for the Indian Premier League franchise Rajasthan Royals.

Rajasthan Royals

2018 season
Coach	Paddy Upton
Captain	Ajinkya Rahane
Ground(s)	Sawai Mansingh Stadium, Jaipur
IPL	4th
Most runs	Jos Buttler (548)
Most wickets	Jofra Archer (15)
← 2015 2019 →

Offseason

Support staff changes

• In January 2018, former Royals team director Zubin Bharucha was appointed as the team's head of cricket^[1]
• In February 2018, former Royals captain Shane Warne was named team mentor^[2]
• In February 2018, Sairaj Bahutule was appointed spin bowling coach^[3]
• In March 2018, Amol Muzumdar and Dishant Yagnik were announced to be the team's batting coach and fielding coach respectively^[4]

Others

In January 2018, the BCCI cleared Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur to host the home matches of the Royals. The Royals had last played at Jaipur in 2013, after which they had to shift their base to Ahmedabad and Mumbai in 2014 and 2015 due to the BCCI's ban on the Rajasthan Cricket Association.^[5]

In March 2018, in an event in Jaipur, the franchise unveiled the new team anthem "Phir Halla Bol" by Ila Arun.^[6]

Squad

• Players with international caps are listed in bold.

No.	Name	Nationality	Birth date	Batting style	Bowling style	Year signed	Salary	Notes
Batsmen
27	Ajinkya Rahane	India	(1988-06-05)5 June 1988 (aged 29)	Right-handed	Right-arm medium	2018	₹4 crore (US$473,000)	Captain
52	Rahul Tripathi	India	(1991-03-02)2 March 1991 (aged 27)	Right-handed	Right-arm medium	2018	₹3.4 crore (US$402,000)
—	Steve Smith	Australia	(1989-06-02)2 June 1989 (aged 28)	Right-handed	Right-arm leg break	2018	₹12 crore (US$1.4 million)	Overseas
—	Prashant Chopra	India	(1992-10-07)7 October 1992 (aged 25)	Right-handed	Right-arm leg break	2018	₹20 lakh (US$24,000)
—	Aryaman Birla	India	(1997-07-09)9 July 1997 (aged 20)	Left-handed	Slow left-arm orthodox	2018	₹30 lakh (US$35,000)
All-rounders
6	Mahipal Lomror	India	(1999-11-16)16 November 1999 (aged 18)	Left-handed	Slow left-arm orthodox	2018	₹20 lakh (US$24,000)
7	Krishnappa Gowtham	India	(1988-10-20)20 October 1988 (aged 29)	Right-handed	Right-arm off break	2018	₹6.2 crore (US$733,000)
18	Ankit Sharma	India	(1991-04-20)20 April 1991 (aged 26)	Left-handed	Slow left-arm orthodox	2018	₹20 lakh (US$24,000)
21	D'Arcy Short	Australia	(1990-08-09)9 August 1990 (aged 27)	Left-handed	Slow left-arm orthodox	2018	₹4 crore (US$473,000)	Overseas
37	Shreyas Gopal	India	(1993-09-04)4 September 1993 (aged 24)	Right-handed	Right-arm leg break	2018	₹20 lakh (US$24,000)
55	Ben Stokes	England	(1991-06-04)4 June 1991 (aged 26)	Left-handed	Right-arm fast-medium	2018	₹12.5 crore (US$1.5 million)	Overseas
84	Stuart Binny	India	(1984-06-03)3 June 1984 (aged 33)	Right-handed	Right-arm medium	2018	₹50 lakh (US$59,000)
—	Jatin Saxena	India	(1982-08-04)4 August 1982 (aged 35)	Right-handed	Right-arm leg break	2018	₹20 lakh (US$24,000)
Wicket-keepers
8	Sanju Samson	India	(1994-11-11)11 November 1994 (aged 23)	Right-handed		2018	₹8 crore (US$946,249.60)
45	Heinrich Klaasen	South Africa	(1991-07-30)30 July 1991 (aged 26)	Right-handed		2018	₹50 lakh (US$59,000)	Overseas
63	Jos Buttler	England	(1990-09-08)8 September 1990 (aged 27)	Right-handed		2018	₹4.4 crore (US$520,000)	Overseas
Bowlers
22	Jofra Archer	England	(1995-04-01)1 April 1995 (aged 23)	Right-handed	Right-arm fast-medium	2018	₹7.2 crore (US$851,624.60)	Overseas
44	Anureet Singh	India	(1988-03-02)2 March 1988 (aged 30)	Right-handed	Right-arm medium	2018	₹30 lakh (US$35,000)
56	Ben Laughlin	Australia	(1982-10-03)3 October 1982 (aged 35)	Right-handed	Right-arm fast-medium	2018	₹50 lakh (US$59,000)	Overseas
61	Ish Sodhi	New Zealand	(1992-10-31)31 October 1992 (aged 25)	Right-handed	Right-arm leg break	2018	₹50 lakh (US$59,000)	Overseas
77	Jaydev Unadkat	India	(1991-10-18)18 October 1991 (aged 26)	Right-handed	Left-arm medium	2018	₹11.5 crore (US$1.4 million)
91	Dhawal Kulkarni	India	(1988-12-10)10 December 1988 (aged 29)	Right-handed	Right-arm medium	2018	₹75 lakh (US$89,000)
—	Dushmantha Chameera	Sri Lanka	(1992-01-11)11 January 1992 (aged 26)	Right-handed	Right-arm fast	2018	₹50 lakh (US$59,000)	Overseas
—	Zahir Khan Pakteen	Afghanistan	(1998-12-20)20 December 1998 (aged 19)	Left-handed	Slow left-arm wrist-spin	2018	₹60 lakh (US$71,000)	Overseas
—	Sudhesan Midhun	India	(1994-10-07)7 October 1994 (aged 23)	Right-handed	Right-arm leg break	2018	₹20 lakh (US$24,000)

Season

League table

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	L	NR	Pts	NRR
1	Sunrisers Hyderabad (RU)	14	9	5	0	18	0.284	Advanced to Qualifier 1
2	Chennai Super Kings (C)	14	9	5	0	18	0.253
3	Kolkata Knight Riders (3)	14	8	6	0	16	−0.070	Advanced to the Eliminator
4	Rajasthan Royals (4)	14	7	7	0	14	−0.250
5	Mumbai Indians	14	6	8	0	12	0.317
6	Royal Challengers Bangalore	14	6	8	0	12	0.129
7	Kings XI Punjab	14	6	8	0	12	−0.502
8	Delhi Daredevils	14	5	9	0	10	−0.222

Source: ESPNcricinfo

The four top ranked teams qualify for the playoffs.

Results

League matches

All times are in Indian Standard Time (UTC+05:30)

9 April 20:00 (D/N) Scorecard

Rajasthan Royals 125/9 (20 overs)	v	Sunrisers Hyderabad (H) 127/1 (15.5 overs)
Sanju Samson 49 (42) Siddarth Kaul 2/17 (4 overs)		Shikhar Dhawan 78* (57) Jaydev Unadkat 1/28 (3 overs)

Sunrisers Hyderabad won by 9 wickets Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium, Hyderabad Umpires: Vineet Kulkarni (India) and Nigel Llong (England) Player of the match: Shikhar Dhawan (Sunrisers Hyderabad)

• Sunrisers Hyderabad won the toss and elected to field.

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11 April 20:00 (D/N) Scorecard

(H) Rajasthan Royals 153/5 (17.5 overs)	v	Delhi Daredevils 60/4 (6 overs)
Ajinkya Rahane 45 (40) Shahbaz Nadeem 2/34 (4 overs)		Rishabh Pant 20 (14) Ben Laughlin 2/20 (2 overs)

Rajasthan Royals won by 10 runs (DLS method) Sawai Mansingh Stadium, Jaipur Umpires: K. N. Ananthapadmanabhan (India) and Nitin Menon (India) Player of the match: Sanju Samson (Rajasthan Royals)

• Delhi Daredevils won the toss and elected to field.
• Rain during play ended the Rajasthan Royals innings at 17.5 overs and Delhi Daredevils were set a target of 71 runs from 6 overs.

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15 April 16:00 (D/N) Scorecard

Rajasthan Royals 217/4 (20 overs)	v	Royal Challengers Bangalore (H) 198/6 (20 overs)
Sanju Samson 92* (45) Yuzvendra Chahal 2/22 (4 overs)		Virat Kohli 57 (30) Shreyas Gopal 2/22 (4 overs)

Rajasthan Royals won by 19 runs M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore Umpires: Sundaram Ravi (India) and Chettithody Shamshuddin (India) Player of the match: Sanju Samson (Rajasthan Royals)

• Royal Challengers Bangalore won the toss and elected to field.

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18 April 20:00 (D/N) Scorecard

(H) Rajasthan Royals 160/8 (20 overs)	v	Kolkata Knight Riders 163/3 (18.5 overs)
D'Arcy Short 44 (43) Nitish Rana 2/11 (2 overs)		Robin Uthappa 48 (36) Krishnappa Gowtham 2/23 (4 overs)

Kolkata Knight Riders won by 7 wickets Sawai Mansingh Stadium, Jaipur Umpires: Abhijit Deshmukh (India) and Sundaram Ravi (India) Player of the match: Nitish Rana (Kolkata Knight Riders)

• Kolkata Knight Riders won the toss and elected to field.

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20 April 20:00 (D/N) Scorecard

(H) Chennai Super Kings 204/5 (20 overs)	v	Rajasthan Royals 140 (18.3 overs)
Shane Watson 106 (57) Shreyas Gopal 3/20 (4 overs)		Ben Stokes 45 (37) Karn Sharma 2/13 (1.3 overs)

Chennai Super Kings won by 64 runs Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium, Pune Umpires: K. N. Ananthapadmanabhan (India) and Nitin Menon (India) Player of the match: Shane Watson (Chennai Super Kings)

• Rajasthan Royals won the toss and elected to field.

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22 April 20:00 (D/N) Scorecard

Mumbai Indians 167/7 (20 overs)	v	Rajasthan Royals (H) 168/7 (19.4 overs)
Suryakumar Yadav 72 (47) Jofra Archer 3/23 (4 overs)		Sanju Samson 52 (39) Hardik Pandya 2/25 (2.4 overs)

Rajasthan Royals won by 3 wickets Sawai Mansingh Stadium, Jaipur Umpires: K. N. Ananthapadmanabhan (India) and Rod Tucker (Australia) Player of the match: Jofra Archer (Rajasthan Royals)

• Mumbai Indians won the toss and elected to bat.

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29 April 16:00 (D/N) Scorecard

Sunrisers Hyderabad 151/7 (20 overs)	v	Rajasthan Royals (H) 140/6 (20 overs)
Kane Williamson 63 (43) Jofra Archer 3/26 (4 overs)		Ajinkya Rahane 65* (53) Siddarth Kaul 2/23 (4 overs)

Sunrisers Hyderabad won by 11 runs Sawai Mansingh Stadium, Jaipur Umpires: Nand Kishore (India) and Bruce Oxenford (Australia) Player of the match: Kane Williamson (Sunrisers Hyderabad)

• Sunrisers Hyderabad won the toss and elected to bat.

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2 May 20:00 (D/N) Scorecard

(H) Delhi Daredevils 196/6 (17.1 overs)	v	Rajasthan Royals 146/5 (12 overs)
Rishabh Pant 69 (29) Jaydev Unadkat 3/46 (4 overs)		Jos Buttler 67 (26) Trent Boult 2/26 (3 overs)

Delhi Daredevils won by 4 runs (DLS method) Feroz Shah Kotla, Delhi Umpires: C. K. Nandan (India) and Virender Sharma (India) Player of the match: Rishabh Pant (Delhi Daredevils)

• Rajasthan Royals won the toss and elected to field.
• Rain before start of play reduced the match to 18 overs per side.
• Rain during play ended the Delhi Daredevils innings at 17.1 overs and Rajasthan Royals were set a target of 151 runs from 12 overs.

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6 May 20:00 (D/N) Scorecard

Rajasthan Royals 152/9 (20 overs)	v	Kings XI Punjab (H) 155/4 (18.4 overs)
Jos Buttler 51 (39) Mujeeb Ur Rahman 3/27 (4 overs)		K. L. Rahul 84* (54) Krishnappa Gowtham 1/18 (3 overs)

Kings XI Punjab won by 6 wickets Holkar Cricket Stadium, Indore Umpires: Sundaram Ravi (India) and Chettithody Shamshuddin (India) Player of the match: Mujeeb Ur Rahman (Kings XI Punjab)

• Kings XI Punjab won the toss and elected to field.

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8 May 20:00 (D/N) Scorecard

(H) Rajasthan Royals 158/8 (20 overs)	v	Kings XI Punjab 143/7 (20 overs)
Jos Buttler 82 (58) Andrew Tye 4/34 (4 overs)		K. L. Rahul 95* (70) Krishnappa Gowtham 2/12 (3 overs)

Rajasthan Royals won by 15 runs Sawai Mansingh Stadium, Jaipur Umpires: Marais Erasmus (South Africa) and Nitin Menon (India) Player of the match: Jos Buttler (Rajasthan Royals)

• Rajasthan Royals won the toss and elected to bat.

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11 May 20:00 (D/N) Scorecard

Chennai Super Kings 176/4 (20 overs)	v	Rajasthan Royals (H) 177/6 (19.5 overs)
Suresh Raina 52 (35) Jofra Archer 2/42 (4 overs)		Jos Buttler 95* (60) Shardul Thakur 1/22 (4 overs)

Rajasthan Royals won by 4 wickets Sawai Mansingh Stadium, Jaipur Umpires: Yeshwant Barde (India) and Marais Erasmus (South Africa) Player of the match: Jos Buttler (Rajasthan Royals)

• Chennai Super Kings won the toss and elected to bat.

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13 May 20:00 (D/N) Scorecard

(H) Mumbai Indians 168/6 (20 overs)	v	Rajasthan Royals 171/3 (18 overs)
Evin Lewis 60 (42) Jofra Archer 2/16 (4 overs)		Jos Buttler 94* (53) Hardik Pandya 2/52 (4 overs)

Rajasthan Royals won by 7 wickets Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai Umpires: Nitin Menon (India) and Sundaram Ravi (India) Player of the match: Jos Buttler (Rajasthan Royals)

• Rajasthan Royals won the toss and elected to field.

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15 May 20:00 (D/N) Scorecard

Rajasthan Royals 142 (19 overs)	v	Kolkata Knight Riders (H) 145/4 (18 overs)
Jos Buttler 39 (22) Kuldeep Yadav 4/20 (4 overs)		Chris Lynn 45 (42) Ben Stokes 3/15 (4 overs)

Kolkata Knight Riders won by 6 wickets Eden Gardens, Kolkata Umpires: Anil Chaudhary (India) and Kumar Dharmasena (Sri Lanka) Player of the match: Kuldeep Yadav (Kolkata Knight Riders)

• Kolkata Knight Riders won the toss and elected to field.

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19 May 16:00 (D/N) Scorecard

(H) Rajasthan Royals 164/5 (20 overs)	v	Royal Challengers Bangalore 134 (19.2 overs)
Rahul Tripathi 80* (58) Umesh Yadav 3/25 (4 overs)		AB de Villiers 53 (35) Shreyas Gopal 4/16 (4 overs)

Rajasthan Royals won by 30 runs Sawai Mansingh Stadium, Jaipur Umpires: Bruce Oxenford (Australia) and Virender Sharma (India) Player of the match: Shreyas Gopal (Rajasthan Royals)

• Rajasthan Royals won the toss and elected to bat.
• Royal Challengers Bangalore were eliminated as a result of this match.