5 Players you didn’t know once played for RR

5 Players you didn’t know once played for RR (Photo Source : X/Twitter)

Inaugural champions Rajasthan Royals went to the 2008 Indian Premier League season with no expectations whatsoever. There were questions all over the team as the experts believed that they didn’t have the quality that was needed to win the championship. Their captain Shane Warne proved everyone wrong and won the title in the opening season. They defined the ‘Yatra Pratibha Avsara Prapnotihi’ motto perfectly, which means, Where Talent Meets Opportunity.

Rajasthan could never win the title again in the next sixteen editions after 2008. They came close in 2022 when the Sanju Samson-led side qualified for the final, but Gujarat Titans in their debut season defeated them by seven wickets in the final. They have nevertheless been a very good side on the paper in the last few years. The franchise has invested heavily in the youth, and it gave them the result as Yashasvi Jaiswal, Riyan Parag and Dhruv Jurel seem to be the future of the team.

However, it wasn’t the same always. Every season RR used to bring in new players and experiment with them and courtesy of the same, a lot of top cricketers once represented the franchise.

Here are five players you may not know once played for RR:

5. Justin Langer

One of Australia’s greatest Test openers, Justin Langer was part of the Rajasthan Royals squad for two seasons – 2008 and 2009. However, he never turned for the tournament, declining Rajasthan’s invite to join the team. The cricketer was worried about the future of the sport and didn’t want to participate in a T20 tournament where the players were given big-money contracts.

He also didn’t want to leave Somerset, a team he was captaining at that time in the county championship. In 2009, he was once again part of the squad but didn’t feature. He also announced his retirement after that season. Ahead of that, he played Champions League (CLT20) for Somerset.

After his retirement, Langer joined Western Australia as their coach and after 16 years staying away from IPL, Langer joined Lucknow Super Giants as their head coach for IPL 2024. The KL Rahul-led side failed to qualify for the playoffs but yet, Langer is expected to continue as LSG’s head coach.

4. Mohammad Kaif

Former India international Mohammad Kaif was part of the Rajasthan squad in 2008. He was signed for US$ 685,000, but the cricketer failed to prove his value, which led to his release ahead of the next season. Notably, the 43-year-old played all 16 games for the team and scored 176 runs at a strike rate of 102.92.

Despite winning the championship, RR decided to release him for the 2009 edition. He went on to join Punjab Kings and also played for Royal Challengers Bengaluru in the 2011 and 2012 seasons. Overall, the cricketer has played 29 games in the cash-rich league and scored 259 runs at a strike rate of 103.60.

After he retired, Kaif became the assistant coach of Gujarat Lions in 2017 and served as the fielding coach of Delhi Capitals in the 2019 and 2020 seasons. Currently, he is a full-time commentator.

3. Heinrich Klaasen

After serving a ban for two years, Rajasthan Royals were back in the 2018 edition and managed to retain a few of their former players. That year they particularly focused on signing some hard hitters of the game as Rajasthan went on to sign Jos Buttler, Ben Stokes, D’Arcy Short and finally Heinrich Klaasen.

The South Africa international wasn’t very popular at that time, but he was known for being a marauding batter in the domestic circuit. He even didn’t make his debut for the national team in 2018 when RR signed him. He was bought in for INR 50 lakh but Klaasen wasn’t handed enough opportunities and in the limited games that he played, the stumper-batter couldn’t impress.

He played four matches in the 2018 season, scoring 57 runs at a strike rate of 121.27. He was released after that season and the keeper-batter joined RCB next year. He flopped there as well, which led to his release. The cricketer fully released his potential after he joined Sunrisers Hyderabad in 2023. That season he scored 448 runs in 12 games and in 2024, he made 479 in 14 matches and took the team to the final.

2. Liam Livingstone

After the Klaasen experiment failed and RR released him, the franchise signed Liam Livingstone for INR 50 lakhs in IPL 2019. He was expected to strengthen the middle order but the England international didn’t get enough opportunities and in the limited games that he played, Livingstone couldn’t impress.

He played four games in the 2019 season, scoring 70 runs at a strike rate of 145.83. He wasn’t part of the squad in the 2020 season but the franchise retained him for the next season, which is the 2021 edition, looking at the strike rate but he had a nightmare that year. The 31-year-old played five matches, scoring just 42 runs at a strike rate of 102.43.

He was released ahead of the 2022 mega-auction. He joined Punjab Kings and played there for three years. Overall, he played 39 games in the cash-rich league, scoring 939 runs. It’s unclear if PBKS will retain him for the 2025 edition but as per reports, it’s likely.

1. Deepak Chahar

Rajasthan Royals were the first team to unearth Deepak Chahar in 2011. He played alongside the likes of Shane Warne, Shane Watson, and Shaun Tait in his RR career, which sounds legendary but the seamer could never break into the playing XI. He was part of the squad for two seasons but in both years, he had to warm the bench.

He was very young at that time as Rajasthan wanted to use him as a backup pacer. The situation never arrived for him to make his debut. He eventually made his IPL debut for Rising Pune Supergiants in 2016. Since then, he went on to join Chennai Super Kings, where he won three IPL titles.

Overall, Chahar has played 81 games in the cash-rich league and picked up 77 wickets at an economy rate of 7.98. Last year, he played just eight games for CSK and ahead of the 2025 mega-auction, the franchise may release him.