IPL MEGA UPDATE: Sanju Samson requests Rajasthan Royals to release him

During the off-season, the biggest news that has dominated the IPL circuit has been the relationship between Sanju Samson and Rajasthan Royals. It had been reported earlier that there could be possible rifts between the two, leading to speculations of Samson moving to a new franchise before IPL 2026. Earlier today (August 7), the Rajasthan Royals had issued a statement stating that they aren't willing to directly trade any of their players, which seemed to have put a temporary stop to the 'Samson exit' rumours.

However, in a new development later in the evening, it has been learnt that Samson has officially asked the Royals management to release him as soon as feasible. Given that he was one of the retained players ahead of the 2025 mega auction, he is contractually bound to the franchise till 2027. However, the IPL rules do have a facility to dictate terms when a player wants to leave the franchise earlier than stipulated. This, of course, is complicated territory and remains to be seen as to how RR deal with it. In any case, the fact that Samson is worth 18 crore means that a one-way cash deal is improbable at the moment.

According to Cricbuzz, Samson's relationship has soured with RR in the last two years, notably in the 2025 season where was also largely sidelined due to injury. The emergence of Yashasvi Jaiswal on the big stage and the franchise's preference for giving Riyan Parag the deputy duties are all incidents that seem to have indirectly affected Samson's stance with the Royals. Add to this the sensational entry of teenage prodigy Vaibhav Suryavanshi who has made a stunning start as opener. What this means is that an opening slot will now be a difficult proposition for Samson who is expected to be one of India's back-up openers in the shortest format. It must be noted, though, that Samson has played a majority of his IPL career at no.3, a slot where he has achieved great success.

However, like with most senior players, the roles with the national team often influence their franchise decisions and Samson has understandably shown a recent preference to open the batting. That now will be a dilemma for the think tank with natural openers Jaiswal and Suryavanshi in the mix. Cricbuzz has also revealed that Samson's family members have admitted to his disinterest in continuing with the Royals. All this is an emotional development, given that Samson's relationship with RR goes back a long, long way. It was the Royals who spotted him through the off-season IPL trials more than a decade ago and since then, the bond only grew stronger with him taking leadership inevitably.

At this stage, Samson's future is a dilemma, both for him and RR. Regarding a potential future destination, Chennai Super Kings have shown the most interest, given the profile of a wicket-keeper batter but Ruturaj Gaikwad has already been ear-marked for long-term captaincy. In such a case, will Samson be okay to play just as a player? The scenario is similar in most of the other franchises. The coming weeks will dictate which way this Samson-RR saga goes but one thing is for certain - it is a disappointing end to one of IPL's sweetest relationships.