IPL: Rajasthan Royals's first ever IPL XI- Where are they now?

#3 Shane Watson

Former Australian all-rounder, Shane Watson was one of the main reasons behind Rajasthan Royals winning the inaugural edition of IPL. Watson had an excellent IPL 2008, as he scored 472 runs with the bat in 15 matches at an average of 47.2, along with a superb strike rate of 151.76, and picked up 17 wickets, thereby winning man of the tournament award in IPL 2008.

In Rajasthan Royals maiden IPL match, Watson scored 21 runs of 15 balls and was run out by Shikhar Dhawan, and was the only Rajasthan bowler to pick up a wicket when he dismissed Virender Sehwag for 12 runs.

Watson made his debut for Australia in March 2002 against South Africa, but only become a regular member for Australian Team after his exploits in IPL 2008. Watson finally retired from international cricket in February 2016, and was also the last player to retire from Australia's golden era of early 2000s.

In IPL, Watson played for Rajasthan Royals from 2008-2014, even captaining Rajasthan Royals in IPL 2014. After the suspension of Rajasthan Royals, Watson played for Royal Challengers Bangalore from 2015 to 2017, and will now turn out for Chennai Super Kings in IPL 2018.

#4 Mohammad Kaif

Former Indian batsman, Mohammad Kaif was the most expensive player bought by the Rajasthan Royals in IPL Auctions. Kaif did not have a good IPL 2008, as he could score only 176 runs in 16 matches at a poor average of 16. In Rajasthan Royals first ever IPL match, Kaif did not have a good match, as he scored just 9 runs from 19 balls.

Kaif shot into prominence for the first time, when India won its first ICC U-19 World Cup in 2000 under his captaincy. But the match that made Kaif a hero among the Indian fans was the 2002 Natwest Series final against England, when Kaif's knock of 87 runs in just 75 balls helped India chase down the difficult target of 326, after being in a spot of bother at 146 runs for the loss of 5 wickets.

Kaif played for Indian team from 2000-2006, and was an integral member of the Indian Team that reached the finals of ICC World Cup in 2003 under the captaincy of Saurav Ganguly, and was considered to be one of the best fielders in Indian team during that time. In late 2006, Kaif was dropped from the Indian ODI team and Test team due to poor form and was never called back again, there by playing his last game for India in November 2006 against South Africa.

Kaif also tried his hands at politics, when he joined Indian National Congress and contested for the seat of Phulpur in Uttar Pradesh at 2014 Lok Sabha Elections, but lost it to BJP. In IPL apart from Rajasthan Royals, Kaif also played for Kings XI Punjab, Royal Challengers Bangalore, and was also the assistant coach of Gujarat Lions in IPL 2017.

Recently, Kaif was in the race to be named as the head coach of Afghanistan Cricket Team, but lost out to Lalchand Rajput and is currently playing for Chhattisgarh in the domestic circuit.