The Rajasthan Royals sold their captain, Sanju Samson, to the Chennai Super Kings in one of the most historic deals in the history of IPL. Concurrently, star all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja is back to the franchise based at Rajasthan. The BCCI sanctioned the deal after some simple technical issues, and stands a three-player transfer, which is strange.
As the retention deadline approached and was only a few hours away, RR and CSK closed a deal that had been undergoing for weeks. This was supposed to be a mere trade between Samson and Jadeja but this turned into a bigger deal when Rajasthan demanded that Sam Curran be involved. Samson and Jadeja were equally ranked at INR 18 crore in retention but Rajasthan offered Curran INR 2.4 crore. Samson will be the face of the CSK at his present league salary of INR 18 crore. The English all-rounder, Curran, has been transferred at his current league fee of INR 2.4 crore.
Notably, Samson’s departure from the Rajasthan Royals was not sudden. Over the previous two seasons, Samson has become increasingly distant from the franchise’s decisions. The release of Jos Buttler, followed by experienced stars Yuzvendra Chahal and Ravichandran Ashwin, convinced Samson that RR was seeking to rebuild, a strategy he did not quite embrace.
According to accounts, internal conflicts arose over his batting position. Samson wanted to open the innings, but RR was determined to back inexperienced opener Vaibhav Suryavanshi. By the time Samson returned from injury in IPL 2025, the new combo of Jaiswal and Suryavanshi had proven too successful for management to abandon. This left Samson at No. 3, a position he did not enjoy long-term.
Ravindra Jadeja not confirmed RR’s captaincy
Meanwhile, CSK is said to have been pursuing the Kerala native over the last three years. They were seeking a long term Indian wicketkeeper-batsman to become the batting leader and possibly the team leader in the future as MS Dhoni nears the end of his career.
Jadeja on the other hand had already served his first two seasons with RR on the IPL after being suspended in 2010. He was turned into a franchise icon at CSK, in which he played 185 games, with 2000 runs and 140 or more wickets, and his flamboyant performance at the 2023 final. Meanwhile according to the trade agreement the league fee of Jadeja has been scaled down to INR 14 crore as compared to INR 18 crore.
However, with CSK wanting to rebuild their team, the addition of Noor Ahmad, and Chepauk becoming less spin-friendly, the franchise believed Jadeja’s influence could be decreased in future seasons. Jadeja and Dhoni allegedly discussed the transfer beforehand and concluded it was best for both parties. Furthermore, RR has not guaranteed Jadeja captaincy, but he is expected to play a senior role in the team.
