The Rajasthan Royals claimed the inaugural Indian Premier League title last year when they beat the Chennai Super Kings by three wickets in the final in Mumbai.

The team is led by legendary Australian leg-spinner Shane Warne, who is also the coach.

Warne is the only non-Indian captain in the competition. South African captain Graeme Smith and fast bowler Morne Morkel, as well as Pakistan wicketkeeper Kamran Akmal and Australian all-rounder Shane Watson are some of the stars who play for the Royals.

Smith topped the batting averages for Rajasthan last year, scoring 441 runs in 11 innings at an average of 49. Watson scored the most runs (472 in 15 innings) at an average of 47.2 and a strike rate of 151.76.

Pakistan’s Sohail Tanvir picked up the most wickets for the Royals and was the leading wicket-taker in the tournament, with 22 wickets in 11 games. Warne followed closely with 19 wickets in 15 matches.

The Emerging Media Group owns the side that won 13 of their 16 games in 2008.

Rajasthan Royals squad: Shane Warne (Aus), Abhishek Raut (Ind), Ahad Malek (Ind), Amit Singh (Ind), Anup Revandkar (Ind), Ashraf Makda (Ind), Atul Sharma (Ind), Dimitri Mascarenhas (Eng), Dinesh Salunke (Ind), Gajendra Singh (Ind), Graeme Smith (SA), Kamran Akmal (Pak), Lee Carseldine (Aus), Mahesh Rawat (Ind), Mohammad Arif (Ind), Mohammad Kaif (Ind), Morne Morkel (SA), Munaf Patel (Ind), Naman Ojha (Ind), Niraj Patel (Ind), Paras Dogra (Ind), Paul Valthaty (Ind), Pratmesh Salunke (Ind), Pushkarraj Chavan (Ind), Raiphi Gomez (Ind), Ravindra Jadeja (Ind), Robert Quiney (Aus), Shane Harwood (Aus), Shane Watson (Aus), Shaun Tait (Aus), Siddharth Chitnis (Ind), Siddharth Trivedi (Ind), Sohail Tanvir (Pak), Srideep Mangela (Ind), Swapnil Asnodkar (Ind), Tyron Henderson (SA), Yusuf Pathan (Ind).
Source – thetimes.co.za