Sanju Samson’s future at Rajasthan Royals is uncertain amid reports of a swap deal with Chennai Super Kings. While he is said to want an exit, RR viewed him as their “undisputed captain” and remained reluctant to trade their star player.
The uncertainty over Sanju Samson’s future at Rajasthan Royals has been looming largely as the franchise has reportedly looked at the options for a swap deal with Chennai Super Kings ahead of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026.
Earlier, it was reported that Samson formally informed the Rajasthan Royals about his decision to leave the franchise, either through a trade deal or by releasing him into an auction pool ahead of the mini-auction, which is likely to take place in January or February next year. The report by Cricbuzz, there were growing differences between Samson and the Royals, resulting in the skipper parting ways with the franchise.
After the speculations emerged that Sanju Samson wanted to leave Rajasthan Royals, the franchise reportedly stated that they were not willing to trade him as he is the ‘undisputed captain’ of the team. Meanwhile, Chennai Super Kings had already expressed their interest in having Samson on the board if he was available for a trade deal.
RR asks Ravindra Jadeja or Ruturaj Gaikwad from CSK
As per the report by Cricbuzz, the Rajasthan Royals have reached out to multiple franchises, including the Chennai Super Kings, who are reportedly looking at Sanju Samson as a potential replacement for MS Dhoni, whose future in the IPL is uncertain yet. Reportedly, RR co-owner Manoj Badale asked CSK for Ravindra Jadeja or Ruturaj Gaikwad as a swap deal for Sanju Samson.
Jadeja began his IPL career with the Rajasthan Royals and played two seasons with them, 2008 and 2009, before moving to Kochi Tusker Kerala and then to Chennai Super Kings. The trading of these two players would be a deal-breaker for the Chennai Super Kings, but the franchise is reportedly not willing to release its two important players of the team.
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Shivam Dube’s name has also been brought into discussion by the Rajasthan Royals to trade for Samson, but the Chennai-based franchise is reportedly not willing to part ways with the all-rounder. Dube also played for Rajasthan before moving to Chennai. Cricbuzz understood that CSK is not willing to trade any of their players for Sanju Samson ahead of the IPL 2026.
Therefore, the direct swap deal for Sanju Samson and Chennai Super Kings is unlikely to happen at present unless lengthy negotiations take place between the two franchises change the equation, or Samson’s name comes up at the auction.
Samson not happy with RR releasing Jos Buttler
There has been no clear reason yet as to why Sanju Samson wants to leave Rajasthan Royals, despite he has been an instrumental and crucial figure for the franchise for a decade, having led the team for five successive seasons from 2021 to 2025.
The latest report by Cricbuzz suggested that there have been plenty of differences between Samson and the Royals for releasing Jos Buttler ahead of the IPL 2025. During the retentions, Rajasthan surprisingly released Buttler from the setup, while retaining Samson, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shimron Hetmyer, Dhruv Jurel, and Sandeep Sharma.
Having used the quota of six retentions, the Rajasthan Royals did not have to Right to Match option to bring back Buttler as the Gujarat Titans signed the former England captain for 15.75 crore at the mega IPL auction in November last year.
Jos Buttler was part of the RR team from 2018 to 2024, having scored 3055 runs, including 7 centuries and 18 fifties, at an average of 41.84 in 83 matches.