The team from India's princely state didn't quite command the kind of respect and interest that befits royalty. So, when Rajasthan Royals, with Shane Warne as coach and captain, swept the opposition away and took the inaugural IPL title, everyone was shocked. IPL 2009 went underway with Bollywood diva Shilpa Shetty and her husband Raj Kundra also joining the franchise as co-owners. With large amount of local talent, the side has been depending on Yusuf Pathan strongly. With South African skipper Graeme Smith and Yusuf Pathan being the only experienced batsman and lot of young stuff following them they can never be under estimated. The bowling attack led by the skipper Shane Warne, Munaf Patel, Shaun Tait and Morne Morkel looks very strong. At the 2010 auction, Rajasthan bought two Australian players - Adam Voges and in a surprise move, the out of action Damien Martyn. The team had bought out Tyron Henderson, Robert Quiney and Mohd Kaif prior to the auction.
Performance in IPL 2009:
The Royals did not have a good start during the 2009 season. In their opening game against the Royal Challengers Bangalore, who were second last in 2008, the Royals obtained the lowest score in the tournaments history. Rajasthan started to gain momentum slowly with Yusuf Pathan's explosive performances in victories against Kolkata Knight Riders and Delhi Daredevils giving hope to the Royals and their fans. However, inconsistency became a major factor; much was expected of South African captain Graeme Smith who was playing in front of his home crowd and who in last season's scored 441 runs, he together with Swapnil Asnodkar were not able to string together strong consistent performances.
The absence of last year's star Sohail Tanvir and Shane Watson were also major factors. Tanvir was not eligible in this season due to political strain between India and Pakistan, and Watson was called up to play for Australia in the series against Pakistan in the UAE. Many also considered the return of Mohammad Kaif back to India a poor decision taken by team as his batting could have contributed to the teams' batting. The Royals failed to make it to the semifinals after losing their last two matches against Delhi Daredevils and Kolkata Knight Riders.
New player for IPL 2010:
Adam Voges: They bought this batsman in IPL auction 2010 but he is not included in 23 member squad.
Damien Martyn: This is a surprise move by the Royals as the veteran has been out of action.
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