Rajasthan Royals Demand Two CSK Players For Sanju Samson: Report

Rajgeeta Yadav

Rajasthan Royals Want Two Players From CSK [Source: AFP]Rajasthan Royals Want Two Players From CSK [Source: AFP]

Sanju Samson, the captain of Rajasthan Royals (RR), reportedly wants to leave the team before the 2026 Indian Premier League (IPL) season. According to Cricbuzz (August 7), the 30-year-old Kerala cricketer, RR’s longest-serving player, highest run-scorer, and most successful captain, has formally asked the franchise to either trade him or release him before the IPL 2026 auction.

Sanju Samson Met CSK Management During MLC

Just a day after this news broke, The Indian Express reported that Chennai Super Kings (CSK), the five-time IPL champions, are keen on signing him. In fact, after IPL 2025 ended, Samson is said to have met CSK’s management and head coach Stephen Fleming in the United States during the Major League Cricket (MLC) season.

Rajasthan Royals had kept Samson last year before the big auction, meaning they still have the right to keep him for the next two seasons. However, for that to happen, both sides would have to sort out their differences. 

As per IPL rules, the power to release or trade a player lies entirely with the franchise, not the player. Since Samson signed a three-year deal, he is technically tied to RR until 2027 unless they agree to let him go.

CSK are reportedly open to signing Samson via an all-cash trade deal. However, negotiations have hit a hurdle, RR are not looking for cash alone. Instead, they want two players from CSK in exchange for Samson. 

While CSK has a history of trading players, they usually prefer cash-only deals; for example, when they bought Robin Uthappa from RR ahead of the 2021 season, it was a cash deal.

Notably, Samson started his IPL journey in 2013 when he was spotted and groomed by ex-Indian head coach Rahul Dravid. Over the years, he’s been a consistent performer, scoring 342 runs in IPL 2019 and 375 runs in 2020, before becoming RR’s captain in 2021.