The speculations about the sale of Sanju Samson between the Rajasthan Royals and the Chennai Super Kings might finally be ended. The new development proves that RR would introduce CSK all-rounders Ravindra Jadeja and Sam Curran to fill the vacant Samson position in their team before the 2026 Indian premier league season.
Most recent media reports reveal that both franchises have already conducted meetings with all the players in the trade deal and are all ready to present an expression of interest to the IPL governing council. In case it gets passed it will be one of the largest trade deals in the history of the cash-rich championship.
It is noteworthy that Samson has been a representative of RR since he was introduced in 2012. Samson has not represented the Delhi Daredevils (currently Delhi Capitals) since they were suspended in 2016 and 2017, only to play two years. The same goes for Jadeja. He has enjoyed a long history with the franchise, and he even took the temporary captaincy of the team in 2023.
In his turn, Curran has represented Punjab Kings in several stints, and has remained with CSK since the launch of his IPL career, which started in 2019. Recently the English great man has made a comeback, taking his place in the international team, and guiding his team to the finals of a competition, The Hundred Men.
Who will be the wicket keeper in CSK; Samson or MS Dhoni?
The two match-winning all-rounders over Samson who is a leadership candidate and also an option of the legendary MS Dhoni as a wicketkeeper-batter might be one of the reasons why CSK would like to include his likes to their team in the next season.
It is worth noting that CSK CEO, Kasi Viswanathan has announced that Dhoni is going to play the 2026 season but due to his knee problems, he might only feature as an Impact Substitute. Later, in 2025 (the second half), he was the captain of CSK as Ruturaj Gaikwad was out with an injured shoulder. But he will fall to his situation as an expert, with the Maharashtra batter likely to be manager of the team again.
