List of Rajasthan Royals captains in IPL

With the prestigious T20 franchise league, the Indian Premier League (IPL) returning with its 19^th edition in March 2026, the inaugural title winners, Rajasthan Royals (RR) on February 13 unveiled Riyan Parag as the new skipper of the side after the franchise traded Sanju Samson for Ravindra Jadeja and Sam Curran with Chennai Super Kings. While the announcement came as a surprise to many, the decision was long due after Parag was seen leading the side in multiple matches in IPL 2025.

But as look forward to the next edition, in this article, we’ll take a look at the players who have led the Rajasthan Royals, which have incidentally been only Australians and Indians.

List of players who have led Rajasthan Royals in IPL

1. Shane Warne

Former Australian cricketer Shane Warne was the first captain of the Royals, who led a bunch of young, promising cricketers to title glory in the inaugural edition. Boasting of his experience at the international level, Warne channelled his energy and produced match-winners out of young and aspiring cricketers. He led the captaincy reigns for four seasons, 56 games, winning 31 of them.

• Rahul Dravid

After Shane Warne’s captaincy, former India cricketer and head coach, Rahul Dravid carried on the baton. While he was the oldest captain when he took over from Warne, aged 39 years in IPL 2012. Under his captaincy, the Royals finished in seventh place in 2012, followed by third-place finish in 2013. Although he has the best record among Royals’ captains when it comes to win percentage as he won 23 matches of his 40.

• Shane Watson

Once again an Australia player took over the helm in the RR campa following Rahul Dravid’s retirement. Shane Watson held the reigns for two seasons, covering 21 matches and led the team into the playoffs in IPL 2015.

• Ajinkya Rahane

After Shane Watson, Ajinkya Rahane was named the captain in IPL 2018. The Mumbai batter did well in his first season as RR finished fourth in the standings. Having led RR in 24 matches, he won nine matches and lost 15.

• Steven Smith

Steven Smith, a regular name in Australian cricket, first filled in as captain for Shane Watson in 2014 and 2015 before replacing Ajinkya Rahane midway through IPL 2019. He was then named as full-time captain in 2020. Although, he led RR only in 27 matches, winning 15 of them.

• Sanju Samson

In IPL 2021, Sanju Samson took over the captaincy reigns from Steven Smith and joined the illustrious list to have led the Royals. However, in the following edition in 2022, Sanju Samson was able to lead the side in their first final since 2008. Although, they fell short in the summit clash against Gujarat Titans, Sanju Samson had another memorable season where RR finished fifth, missing the playoffs by a whisker.

Sanju Samson-led RR made a comeback in IPL 2024, but finished third with 17 points. In all, under his captaincy, where he led RR to 67 matches, he won 33 and lost 32 and is the most successful captain of the team.

• Riyan Parag

Young India all-rounder Riyan Parag was recently named the RR captain after he led the side in couple of matches in IPL 2025. Having led RR in eight matches thus far, he has won two and lost six games.

Rajasthan Royals captains list

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