Sanju Samson's future at Rajasthan Royals is reportedly uncertain.
The talk around Sanju Samson’s reported possible trade from Rajasthan Royals (RR) to Chennai Super Kings (CSK) is heating up ahead of IPL 2026.
According to a report in Cricbuzz, Rajasthan Royals have written to several franchises asking if they are interested in getting the services of Samson.
One of those franchises is Chennai Super Kings, and according to the report, the Royals’ majority stake owner Manoj Badale is said to be leading the negotiations. Chennai Super Kings skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad is one of the names that Manoj has reportedly requested for.
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Apart from Gaikwad, the Rajasthan Royals have also requested either Ravindra Jadeja or Shivam Dube for the Kerala batter. However, it remains to be seen how feasible Shivam Dube to Rajasthan Royals will be, since it has been reported that Chennai Super Kings are not ready to let go the all-rounder.
The report adds that the five-time champions are reluctant to release any of their players, so it remains to be seen if there would be any trade deal at all between the two franchises. The report also states that Samson’s potential trade deal from Rajasthan Royals to Chennai Super Kings is a “non-starter”, which means there is the possibility of Samson staying with the Jaipur-based franchise.
The Rajasthan Royals skipper could end up staying with the franchise if none of the trade deals go through. It, however, has to be noted that other franchises who are actively involved in the trade window, are interested in the 30-year-old as well.
There have been instances wherein Samson and the Rajasthan Royals team management have had their differences. One of those instances was when Samson had opposed to the move of releasing Jos Buttler, who was a game-changer for the franchise. Instead, the inaugural IPL champions ended up retaining Shimron Hetmyer.
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“Letting him go has been one of the most challenging decisions for me. During the England series, I told him over dinner that I was still not over it. If I could change one thing in the IPL, I would change the rule of releasing players every three years,” the wicketkeeper-batter told Star Sports before the start of IPL 2025.
Samson, who has been serving as RR captain since 2021, has scored 4027 runs from 144 innings. Barring 2016 and 2017, when the franchise was banned, Samson has played for the Royals in every other season since 2013.
In IPL 2025, he scored just 285 runs from nine matches at a strike-rate of 140.39 with just one fifty to his name.
