Picture Credit BCCI/IPL
Rajasthan Royals won the inaugural IPL title in 2008 under the captaincy of Shane Warne. Ever since then they have not been able to secure the trophy. There have been multiple captains so far and in the last edition they could not qualify for the playoffs and traded out their captain Sanju Samson. So currently leading into the IPL 2026 Rajasthan Royals have not yet named the captain for the upcoming season. In this article we look at the list of players who have captained Rajasthan Royals and also look at how they did in the Indian Premier League.
List of Captains
1.Shane Warne – 2008-2011
Australian legend Shane Warne captained the Royals franchise for three years which also included a title win in 2008. He was a visionary leader and Rajasthan were excellent under his captaincy. He led them in 56 matches and won 31 matches while losing 24 matches and one game was tied. He had a 55.35 win percentage record.
2.Shane Watson – 2008-2015
Shane Watson was the stand in captain for Shane Warne and took the duties when Warne was unavailable. Watson captained RR for 21 matches and they won 7 games and lost 11 games. 3 matches ended in a tie/no result.
3.Rahul Dravid – 2012/13
Rahul Dravid took over the reigns from Shane Warne and captained the Royals side for two seasons. He captained them for 40 matches and won 23 matches while losing 17 games under his leadership.
4.Steve Smith – 2014-2020
Steven Smith took over the captaincy in 2014 and has led them in 27 matches winning 15 of them and they lost 11 matches. RR were not part in 2016 and 2017 season but Smith returned later to captain them again.
5.Ajinkya Rahane – 2018/2019
Rahane captained Rajasthan Royals for 24 matches and won nine of them while losing 15 matches. The opener was removed from captaincy after the side could not do well.
6.Sanju Samson – 2021-2025
Sanju Samson was the most recent captain for Rajasthan Royals and has been the captain for the last five years. He has led them in 67 matches and has 33 wins along with 32 losses. He was traded to CSK at the ahead of the upcoming season.
7.Riyan Parag – 2025
Parag led RR in the absence of Sanju Samson during the 2025 IPL season and he captained them for 8 matches in which RR won 2 of them and lost 6 matches. It will be interesting to see if he gets the captaincy for 2026 season.
