The Sanju Samson trade saga for the upcoming season of the Indian Premier League (IPL 2026) took another major turn earlier today. With recent reports claiming that the wicketkeeper-batter will stay put at Royals contradicting talks of a move away, it is now understood that Samson himself has requested to part ways with the franchise.
The strongest possibility of Samson’s next potential destination currently is Chennai Super Kings (CSK). He fits the bill as MS Dhoni’s successor and also as a leadership figure. Furthermore, he is from South India and will also have the backing of the fanbase. However, completing the deal won’t be as easy for CSK and they will have overcome quite a few obstacles and challenges to secure the RR captain. Let’s take a look at the possible hurdles the five-time champions will need to get past to complete one of the most anticipated deals for IPL 2026.
Even if CSK can strike personal terms with Sanju Samson, it will be difficult to get the Royals onboard since there is no offer for a player trade. RR will ideally look to replace Samson with a younger talent who can also shoulder captaincy responsibilities, someone like a Ruturaj Gaikwad. On the other hand, RR are also not interested in an all-cash deal, which is the reason things are at a standstill currently.
For a trade to go through, both the player and the home team need to give their consent to the deal. CSK also have overseas young talents like Dewald Brevis or Noor Ahmad who they can offer as part of a cash+player deal but it remains to be seen it piques RR’s interest or not.
Getting Sanju Samson means that they will have to sacrifice their young top-order batters who impressed during the IPL 2025 season. With the team struggling last season, CSK, known for backing experienced players, turned to youngsters with a goal to build for the future. Talents like Urvil Patel, Ayush Mhatre, Shaik Rasheed all pack tremendous potential but fitting in Sanju in the playing XI means sidelining a promising prospect.
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Another big call CSK need to take is whether they will offer Sanju Samson the captaincy, given they have already invested in Ruturaj Gaikwad as their prospective future leader. Gaikwad took over CSK captaincy duties ahead of IPL 2024 after MS Dhoni relinquished it only for Captain Cool to return in the role midway IPL 2025, with the team struggling and the young batter sidelined due to injury.
The decision to hand Sanju the captaincy reins or not will probably be the toughest call CSK will have to take and it can make or break the deal.
If CSK fails to acquire Samson in the trade window and he enters the auction pool, they will face a towering task in acquiring him. While a trade amount remains undisclosed and doesn’t affect auction budget, buying Sanju under the hammer can derail CSK’s other plans. Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) can be their biggest competitor with the three-time IPL winners in pursuit of a top-order wicketkeeper-batter who can also lead the team.
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