IPL: Rajasthan Royals's first ever IPL XI- Where are they now?
Rajasthan Royals are one of the inconsistent teams in the IPL. Despite winning the IPL Trophy in the inaugural edition, Rajasthan Royals have qualified for the playoffs only once in IPL 2013, after winning the inaugural edition of IPL.
This year in IPL 2018, Rajasthan Royals will return to IPL after being suspended for two years by BCCI in 2015, due to 3 of their players and a team owner being involved in spot-fixing.
Before the start of inaugural edition of IPL, Rajasthan Royals were considered as the weakest team in IPL 2008 by many cricket pundits and fans, as they did not have any big names in their playing line up apart from Shane Warne.
But Rajasthan Royals stunned everyone by winning the inaugural edition of IPL by defeating Chennai Super Kings in the finals, on the back of excellent leadership skills of Shane Warne, along with crucial performances from foreign contingent and local Indian talent.
Rajasthan Royals played their maiden IPL match against Delhi Daredevils on 19 April 2008, and lost the match by 9 wickets.
Currently, only three players who took the field for Rajasthan Royals in their maiden IPL match against Delhi Daredevils are now playing IPL but not for Rajasthan Royals.
So let us have a look at the playing XI of Rajasthan Royals that took the field in their maiden IPL encounter:
#1 Taruwar Kohli
Punjab lad Taruwar Kohli, was an important member of Indian U-19 World Cup Squad that won the ICC U-19 World Cup in 2008 under Virat Kohli, but Taruwar failed to graduate to the Indian Senior Cricket Team.
Taruwar Kohli opened the innings for Rajasthan Royals in their maiden IPL match, along with Yusuf Pathan. Taruwar Kohli did not have a good opening match for Rajasthan Royals as he scored just 7 runs of 12 balls, and was dismissed by Australian legend Glenn McGrath.
In IPL apart from Rajasthan Royals, Taruwar Kohli also played for Kings XI Punjab in IPL 2009, and played his IPL match against Kolkata Knight Riders in the same IPL 2009.
Currently, Taruwar Kohli plays for Punjab in the domestic circuit.
#2 Yusuf Pathan
Inaugural edition of the IPL saw the rise of Yusuf Pathan as the powerful and dangerous hitter of the cricket ball who could change the course of the match in just few overs. In Rajasthan Royals maiden IPL match, Yusuf Pathan scored just 10 runs of 5 balls and was run out by Mithun Manhas.
Yusuf Pathan had an excellent IPL 2008, and scored 435 runs in 8 matches with the bat at an excellent strike rate of 179.01, and smashed 25 sixes in the tournament. Yusuf Pathan was also man of the match in IPL 2008 final, for his all-round performance.
Yusuf Pathan made his debut for Indian team in the finals of inaugural T20 World Cup 2007 against arch-rivals Pakistan. Despite being a game changer, Pathan's inconsistency with the bat meant that he failed to establish himself as a regular member of Indian Team, and last played for India in March 2012.
In IPL apart from Rajasthan Royals, Yusuf Pathan was an integral member of Kolkata Knight Riders from 2011 to 2017 and is won of the few players to win 3 IPL Trophies.
This year Yusuf will play for Sunrisers Hyderabad in IPL 2018, as they bought him in the recently concluded IPL Auctions.