Rajasthan Royals

The rags to riches story of an apparent rag-a-tag team, led by a spin wizard known as much for his on-field exploits as much as for his bad boy demeanours off the field, captured the imagination of the cricket fans around the world.

The world watched in amazement as Shane Warne inspired a team, comprising of mostly fringe players to a championship victory in the first ever IPL odyssey.

That was 2008. 2009 would offer fresher challenges as Warne and Co look to do an encore. Besides the burden of expectations as the defending champions, the Jaipur based franchisee would be without the services of Shane Watson and Sohail Tanvir this year. Both the players had played stellar roles in team’s success last year but are occupied by international duties this year.

Off the field too Rajasthan Royals made the right noises as Bollywood starlet Shilpa Shetty, in a much-publicised event, brought a stake in the team.

Head CoachShane Warne

Assistant Head Coach TBA

Physiotherapist John Gloster

FranchiseeEmerging Media (Shilpa Shetty and Raj Kundra)

Franchise cost USD 67 Million