IPL 2008: Rajasthan Royals' playing XI in the final - where are they now?

The inaugural season of IPL was played in 2008, where 8 teams had fought for the title. It was a treat for the Indians fans, as this was the first time when they had got to witness the cricketing heroes from all over the world on a single platform. After 45 days of hard-fought battle, Rajasthan Royals was finally crowned as the first ever champions of the league, which is now the richest and the most popular cricket league in the world.

In the final, Chennai Super Kings had posted 5/163, thanks to Suresh Raina's 30 ball 43 and the late fireworks from Captain Cool Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who scored 29 runs in just 17 balls. It was Yusuf Pathan, who kept CSK away from a bigger total, and his figures read 4-0-22-3.

While chasing, RR suffered early blows, when they lost Niraj Patel and Kamran Akmal for 2 and 6 runs respectively. This was when Shane Watson joined hands with Pathan, and the duo put a partnership of 65 runs. RR needed 8 runs in the last over, with Shane Warne and Sohail Tanvir on the crease and Lakshmipathy Balaji running with the ball. However, they managed to win this nail-biting match on the last ball by 3 wickets.

Rajasthan Royals, which won the first season, still remains an important and hard to beat franchise. They have got some of the best players in Steve Smith, Ajinkya Rahane, Ben Stokes and Jaydev Unadkat. They will be expected to provide tough competition in this season as well.

On this note, let us take a look at the squad, which won them the opening season of this prestigious tournament.

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#1 Mohammad Kaif

Mohammed Kaif

Mohammad Kaif had a disappointing 2008 season, where he could score only 176 runs in the 16 matches that he played. He played his IPL last season in 2012. Finally, after his retirement in July 2018, he got engaged in other aspects of the cricketing world, mainly commentary and coaching.

He has been roped in as the assistant coach of the Delhi Capitals franchise for the upcoming 2019 season. He joins Ricky Ponting and James Hopes in the coaching team.

#2 Kamran Akmal

Kamran Akmal played only 6 matches in the first season of the IPL. He scored 128 runs in those 6 matches. This was also the last IPL match for right-handed wicketkeeper-batsman, who could not feature in this league again due to the non-inclusion of Pakistani players in further seasons.

However, Akmal continued to be an integral part of Pakistan squad in the limited over cricket. Although he hasn't retired from international cricket, he has been out of the team for quite a few years now. He played his last international match in April 2017 against Windies. He continues to play in the Pakistan Super League as a part of Peshawar Zalmi. However, he hasn't been able to find his form yet.

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#3 Niraj Patel

He was selected in the U-19 World Cup in 1999. Patel batted in only 4 of the 7 matches played and had an excellent average of 66.5. However, he could not find his rhythm thereafter.

Niraj Patel could not have a successful career at the highest level, and he played his last IPL match against Kolkata Knight Riders in 2009. He continued to play domestic cricket for Gujarat and Assam after that.

#4 Swapnil Asnodkar

Swapnil Asnodkar

Swapnil Asnodkar was an example of another unfulfilled career. The right-handed Goa batsman could not earn an international cap and played only 20 matches in the IPL, scoring 423 runs at an average of just 21.15.

He played first-class cricket till 2018 for Goa, where he scored 5883 runs in 157 innings. His best performance came in the 2007-08 season, where scored 640 runs at an astonishing average of 71.11.

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#5 Shane Watson

Shane Watson

The legendary all-rounder was the hero of Royals' campaign in 2008. His 472 runs and 17 wickets in 15 matches is enough to justify his IPL Player of the Tournament title in that year and show his form at that time. Shane Watson continued to play international cricket for Australia.

After his retirement from international cricket in 2016, his focus largely shifted to the global T20 leagues. He was the hero of the 2018 IPL final, where he single-handedly guided CSK to victory, with his unbeaten 57 balls 117. He has been retained by CSK, and undoubtedly he would be eager to repeat the same performance in 2019 as well.

#6 Yusuf Pathan

Yusuf Pathan

If Rajasthan Royals won the 2008 final, then it was the all-round performance of Yusuf Pathan that helped them do that. His 4-0-22-3 and 56 of 39 balls showed his class and ability to deal with the pressure efficiently.

Although he has not played any international cricket after 2012, he has continued to be an integral part of IPL. He was a part of Kolkata Knight Riders till 2017 before he shifted to Sunrisers Hyderabad in 2018, where he scored 260 runs in 9 innings he got.

He has been retained by SRH for 2019 season as well and it will be interesting to see whether he can repeat his heroics of 2008 IPL season again, where he had scored 435 runs and had taken 8 wickets in 16 games.

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#7 Ravindra Jadeja

Ravindra Jadeja

Ravindra Jadeja is the only player from the RR's 2008 final squad, who is still playing international cricket. He was an integral part of Royals' squad till 2011 before he joined hands with CSK in 2012.

He has undoubtedly been the most trusted player for MS Dhoni since his arrival. In the 154 matches that the 30-year-old has played in his IPL career, he has scored 1821 runs in addition to 93 wickets.

He witnessed the biggest downfall of downfall in his career when he was dropped from the national squad, after his disappointing performances in the Champions Trophy 2017. However, he is now back into the scheme of things and is currently fighting for a place in the 15 member squad for ICC World Cup 2019

#8 Sohail Tanvir

Sohail Tanvir

One moment that no one can forget is that single, which was stolen by Sohail Tanvir on the last delivery of IPL 2008. It was single which got Rajasthan Royals crowned as the champions of that season.

See the coincidence, the unforgettable memorable moment turned out to be the last delivery he ever bowled or faced in his IPL career. He could never play IPL thereafter due to the non-participation of Pakistani players in the league.

After taking 22 scalps from 11 matches in that season, Tanvir's focus shifted towards playing for the national team. However, he played his last international match in 2015 and is currently a part of Quetta Gladiators in the PSL 2019.

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#9 Siddharth Trivedi

Siddharth Trivedi

Siddharth Trivedi played the role of a support bowler in that season, taking 13 scalps from 15 matches that he played. He continued to play for the same franchise till 2013, before getting suspended for 1 year, on being found guilty of not reporting about being approached by bookies.

However, he made his comeback in 2014 and played for the Saurashtra side till 2015. Despite the huge talent that he possessed, he could never make to the national side and had to be satisfied with the IPL and domestic cricket.

#10 Shane Warne

Shane Warne

Shane Warne was the captain of the 2008 RR squad. He took 19 wickets in the 15 matches that he played in that season and continued to lead the team till 2011.

Apart from this, the Australian continues to be engaged in other aspects of cricket, mainly coaching and commentary. He is currently the mentor of the Royals' squad. The best wrist-spinner in the world retired in 2007 after the Ashes win at home against England.

No one can forget his 708 test wickets, and remains the only player to complete 700 wickets in Tests other than Muttiah Muralitharan. He also had 293 ODI scalps to his name.

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#11 Munaf Patel

Munaf Patel

Munaf Patel took 14 wickets from 15 matches in the inaugural IPL season. He was also the part of the Indin team, that won the ICC World cup held in India in 2011. He has represented India in all the 3 formats. However, he played his last international match in 2011 and did not have a smooth run since then.

However, he was picked up by Gujarat Lions for IPL 2017, and he played only 2 games in that season. He finally retired from all forms in cricket in November 2018 due to fitness issues.