He scored only 333 runs in 14 matches of the IPL 2025.
After two mediocre Indian Premier League (IPL) editions in 2022 and 2023, followed by an injury-hit season in 2025, there are speculations regarding the Rajasthan Royals skipper Sanju Samson possibly making a move to CSK ahead of IPL 2026.
Whatever the case there, the franchise may release another wicketkeeper-batter Dhruv Jurel to increase their purse ahead of the IPL 2026 player auction.
The 30-year-old was retained by RR for INR 18 crores. However, he remained away from action for five matches this season due to some injuries. Samson played some initial matches only as a batter, as a finger injury that he sustained during the final match of the home T20I series against England on February 2, 2025, refrained him from taking up his keeping duties. Youngster Riyan Parag took over the leadership charges in his absence. He further suffered an abdominal injury midway through the league and again missed on to participate in some later fixtures of RR.
The opener scored 285 runs in the nine matches that he played, at a strike rate of 140.39. Previously, Samson also had two average seasons in the IPL 2022 and IPL 2023, as he put up only 458 runs in 17 matches and 362 runs in 14 matches, respectively. However, his team RR qualified for the IPL Final in 2022, but could not get their hands on the silverware for the second time. Gujarat Titans, one of the new additions to the league, defeated them by seven wickets to win the IPL title in their first-ever appearance.
Another keeper-batter of RR, Dhruv Jurel, also endured a rough patch in the IPL 2025. He was also retained by the franchise for a whopping amount of INR 14 crores ahead of the IPL 2025 auction. But the youngster could not reflect on the faith posed by the team this season. He scored only 333 runs in 14 matches at a strike rate of 156.33.
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Dhruv Jurel, alongside his overseas batting partner Shimron Hetmyer, failed to chase down very achievable totals thrice in the IPL 2025. The gloveman was batting at 15 runs off 24 balls against the Delhi Capitals (DC) when they required just nine more off the final over to win the match. But he could not pull off the chase as DC took the game to a super over and eventually won the match.
A similar incident followed in two consecutive fixtures. The batter failed to finish off the matches while batting at five runs off four balls and 47*(32), needing nine runs off six balls and 18 runs off 12 deliveries, against the Lucknow Super Giants and the Royal Challengers Bengaluru, respectively. He also endured a lean patch in the previous season, with only 195 runs in 15 league-stage matches.
These consecutive failures might have harmed his retention chances strongly ahead of the IPL 2026 auction. There’s also the price factor with Jurel costing a bomb for RR as he was retained for INR 14 crores. Even if RR want Jurel, they may ponder releasing him and then taking him back with the RTM option for a lower price.
The franchise may look to release or trade the keeper with other teams, like the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) or Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH), who might be on a search for better keeper-batter choices.
The two glovemen of KKR, Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Quinton de Kock, have had a poor season in the IPL 2025. KKR will also want to get an Indian keeper-batter in the squad to increase the overseas options in their playing XI. SRH, meanwhile, will also want an option with the Ishant Kishan option not working well.
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