It is safe to say that Sanju Samson is to Rajasthan Royals what Virat Kohli and Mahendra Singh Dhoni are to Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) and Chennai Super Kings (CSK) respectively. But, is that going to change?
Speculations are rife that the India wicketkeeper-batter is set to end his long association with the franchise ahead of the IPL 2026. Samson’s recent remarks in a chat with former India spinner Ravichandran Ashwin in the latter’s YouTube show have led more credence to the speculations, with reports saying that CSK is likely to be his next destination. But, with a price tag of Rs 18 crore, the Chennai franchise will have to trade Ashwin and another player to seal the player swap. Or, it will have to buy Samson in the mini auction if he is released into the auction pool.
A finger injury limited him to an Impact Player last season, with middle-order batter Riyan Parag captaining the side. Though he returned as the skipper mid-way through the tournament, RR finished ninth in the tournament. Also, with youngsters such as Yashasvi Jaiswal and Vaibhav Suryavanshi making their mark as openers, the 30-year-old is likely to find it tough to play in his preferred positions if he stays.
Meanwhile, former India player S. Badrinath said that Parag’s elevation as captain seems to be the reason for Samson’s impending exit. “If you consider him (Parag) for captaincy, how do you expect someone like Samson to stay,” Badrinath said in his YouTube channel. He went on to add that Samson would be a great fit in the CSK top order and would be a like-for-like replacement for the franchise.
Sanju Samson’s association with Rajasthan Royals
Though Samson was part of the Kolkata Knight Riders squad in 2012, he did not play any matches. He made his IPL debut with the RR in 2013 and won the Emerging Player Award, too, that season. After a brief stint with the Delhi Capitals (2016-2017), he returned to the Royals in 2018.
He was appointed RR captain in 2021, and took the Jaipur-based side to the finals in 2022. He is the most successful RR captain after Shane Warne - who led the team to a title win in the inaugural 2008 edition.
As a batter, his most productive IPL season was 2024, when he scored a career-best 531 runs. He is RR’s all-time leading run-scorer, with 3,986 runs for the franchise.
"RR has meant the world to me,” Samson told Ashwin in the YouTube show. “A small child coming from a village in Kerala, wanting to show his talent. And then Rahul (Dravid) sir and Manoj Badale sir gave me a stage to get up and show the world what I am made of.”