Another twist in the Sanju Samson trade tale. It turns out that apart from Delhi Capitals (DC) and Chennai Super Kings (CSK), Punjab Kings (PBKS) also made an offer to the Rajasthan Royals (RR). Although CSK have virtually bagged the wicketkeeper batter, for a little while, 3 franchises are fighting for Samson.
Punjab Kings were ready for Sanju Samson trade
Ravichandran Ashwin, who has represented PBKS and CSK, revealed this information. The spinner explained that RR’s demand for trading Samson was simple: they wanted a finisher and a bowler from PBKS. Ashwin shared that Australian all-rounder Marcus Stoinis was one of the main names mentioned for a potential trade.
Stoinis certainly ticks the finisher demand. But Ashwin didn’t mention who the bowler was that RR wanted from PBKS. One can guess that it could have been someone like Yuzvendra Chahal, Harpreet Brar, Vijaykumar Vyshak, or perhaps a combination of a few uncapped bowlers.
What’s certain is that the deal couldn’t go through. Apart from Shreyas Iyer and Arshdeep Singh, PBKS don’t really have a big enough player to trade for Samson, and whoever they wished to send over with Stonis probably didn’t match RR’s demand.
“I heard this murmur that it wasn’t just Delhi or Chennai that were in the race (to get Sanju Samson via trade), but Rajasthan also got a trade offer from the Punjab Kings. It was a very good offer. Rajasthan wanted a bowler and finisher combination. I hear that Marcus Stoinis might have also been on the table,” Ashwin said on Ash ki Baat.
But CSK have that fame and firepower, with Ravindra Jadeja being a certainty for Samson if the trade goes ahead as planned. Of course, one of Sam Curran or Matheesha Pathirana is expected to be added to sweeten the deal.
For comparison, Jadeja and Curran are worth INR 20.40 crore, while Samson’s price is INR 18 crore. Meanwhile, PBKS are offering Stoinis, who gets INR 11 crore and have to trade another player or set of players of the same value to match CSK’s offer.
