Rajasthan Royals have been pretty active in the last couple of weeks or rather have been made to, by franchise skipper Sanju Samson, who wants to part ways. Samson, who took over the franchise as captain in 2021, led the side to final in 2022 and again to the playoffs in 2024.
“Market garam hai” is a term often used at stock exchanges regarding share market and it might as well resonate with the current trade scenario in the IPL trade window with the rumours and speculations being dished out like hot pizzas out of the oven. Sanju Samson, evidently,ย has been the headline-maker but there is Venkatesh Iyer, whose name is getting linked to a possible trade with Sunrisers Hyderabad and that Delhi Capitals looking to poach Will Jacks from Mumbai Indians.
However, there have been significant developments regarding Samson and his desire to move out of the Rajasthan Royals. Whether you would want to believe it or not, there was visible friction between Samson and the new Rajasthan Royals management, led by the head coach Rahul Dravid in the 2025 edition of the IPL. Dravid did deny it explicitly obviously but the stop-start tournament for Samson didn’t help, first due to the finger injury he sustained during the England T20I series in January and then due to a side strain during the Delhi Capitals game, which went to the Super Over.ย
What unfolded before and during IPL 2025?
It meant that Samson played only nine matches and Riyan Parag, the next in-line for the Royals became the stand-in captain. Then reports of Yashasvi Jaiswal getting a Goa leadership gig started doing the rounds and it seemed like the young opener wasn’t happy that he wasn’t considered despite being retained in the same salary bracket and the ball set rolling for the drama to follow.ย
A couple of months later, the first report came that the Chennai Super Kings were interested and the franchise even confirmed the same. However, it seemed like the Rajasthan Royals weren’t on board with the discussions just yet when it was known that Samson has indeed asked the management to let him go. The discussions with CSK happened once again but the Royals wanted Ruuturaj Gaikwad and Ravindra Jadeja both for letting Samson go.ย
Those discussions also fell apart but the main question is do CSK really need him? And will Samson go to CSK knowing that he might not get the captaincy? Hardik Pandya replacedย Rohit Sharma as the captain of Mumbai Indians being traded from Gujarat Titans and everyone knows how that went down. Since Samson has led the Royals to the playoffs twice and the final once, and now being a first-choice in the Indian team, he would want to stay on as captain. So now the question arises, which team needs a captain?
Why do CSK want him?
CSK earmarked Gaikwad as their future leader and despite MS Dhoni taking over mid-season, the word from the management was always that the 28-year-old would return at helm. The Super Kings may not be wrong in approaching Samson, given they are looking at future of the franchise after Dhoni but can they work the captaincy bit out? Will Gaikwad play just as a batter, if Samson does agree for a CSK deal? And where do Rajasthan Royals stand in all of this?ย
On the other hand, if there’s any team which really needs a captain, there’s only Kolkata Knight Riders, who picked Ajinkya Rahane as a stop-gap solution for the 2025 edition and Venkatesh Iyer as his deputy. But with Iyer’s performance diminishing under the burden of the price tag, which was indeed a huge one, KKR could be an interested party, especially since they have lacked a quality top-order Indian batter, who can keep since Robin Uthappa. There have been the Phil Salts, Rahmanullah Gurbazs and the Quinton de Kocks of the world, but having an Indian keeper might sort several structural issues in the KKR line-up, which they struggled throughout with in the recent season, finishing eighth.
How does the trade, the offer and the interest come from KKR, that is another question but it seems like the three-time champions are currently the only side where Samson might fit like hand-in-glove. Hence, until the retentions are announced, it will be an interesting storyline to follow as Samson is also aware that his stocks have increased after smashing three centuries in five innings for India.