The team from India's princely state didn't quite command the kind of respect and interest that befits royalty. So when the Rajasthan Royals, led by Shane Warne, swept the opposition away and took home the first-ever IPL title, everyone was surprised. Sohail Tanvir and Shane Watson were the other big names that powered the side, but it was players like Swapnil Asnodkar and Ravindra Jadeja that shone.
IPL 2009 got underway with Bollywood diva Shilpa Shetty and her then fiance Raj Kundra also joining the franchise as co-owners. Kaif was left out and Watson was unavailable. Tyron Henderson, who was roped in after a tug-of-war with KXIP, played just one game. Yusuf Pathan starred in a win over KKR in the only Super Over of the tournament. 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.
Team
Shane Warne
Johan Botha
Damien Martyn
Michael Lumb
Abhishek Jhunjhunwala
Shrikant Wagh
Abhishek Raut
Sumit Narwal
Faiz Fazal
Syed Ahmed Quadri
Amit Paunikar
Kamran Khan
Amit Singh
Graeme Smith
Dimitri Mascarenhas
Morne Morkel
Shaun Tait
Munaf Patel
Yusuf Pathan
Sidharth Trivedi
Swapnil Asnodkar
Mahesh Rawat
Naman Ojha
Amit Paunikar